Orbiting Satellites – Book Three
by Just4fun37
Summary: Story picks up 6 years after Breaking Dawn. Jake & Nessie were captured by Joham who's trying create Vamp/Half-Vamp offspring w/Nessie. Once they're rescued Jake's near death & Carlisle determines Nessie's pregnant. What will Jake, Nessie, & the rest of the Cullens do? Read Orbiting Satellites – Book 1 & 2 before this to understand everything going on. JPOV & RPOV. All Canon
1. Shocking News

**Overview **

2006-2007 - The Micro Moon

2007-2008 - The Full Moon

2008-2009 - The Blood Moon

2009-2010 - The Snow Moon

2010-2011 - The Worm Moon

2011-2012 - The Blue Moon

2012-2013 - The Pink Moon

2013-2014 - The Flower Moon

* * *

2014-2019 - The Wolf Moon

2020-2024 - The Strawberry Moon

2025-2029 - The Thunder Moon

2030-2034 - The Buck Moon

2035-2039 - The Sturgeon Moon

2040-2044 - The Corn Moon

2045-2049 - The Super Moon

2050-2054 - The Harvest Moon

2055-2059 - The Frost Moon

2060-2064 - The Super Blood Wolf Moon

Epilogue

* * *

**The Pink Moon**

Renesmee's physical development has slowed dramatically. She currently looks twenty-two years old.

Chapter 1 - Shocking News

Chapter 2 - Deer Blood

Chapter 3 - Speedy Delivery

Chapter 4 - Explanations

Chapter 5 - Missing Everything

Chapter 6 - Goodbye

Chapter 7 - David

Chapter 8 - Christmas and Embry

Chapter 9 - Dinner and La Push

Chapter 10 - The Birth

Chapter 11 - Felicity

Chapter 12 - David's Difficulties

* * *

**The Flower Moon**

Renesmee's physical development will stop this year as she turns seven. On her birthday she will forever look twenty-three.

Chapter 13 - The Hunting Party

Chapter 14 - The Cullens Return

Chapter 15 - Friend or Foe?

Chapter 16 - College and French

Chapter 17 - Mistakes and The Necklace

Chapter 18 - The Box and More Mistakes

Chapter 19 - Wolves and Finally Engaged

Chapter 20 - Coming Clean

Chapter 21 - I Need to Get Out Of Here

Chapter 22 - Missing Imprint

Chapter 23 - MINE

Chapter 24 - Don't Leave Me

Chapter 25 - My Six Weeks of Hell

Chapter 26 - A Birthday, a Funeral, and a Wedding Chapter 27 - Well That Was Unexpected

Chapter 28 - Old… um, friends? Chapter 29 - Three Days and Counting

Chapter 30 - Waiting for the End

Chapter 31 - Aftermath

Chapter 32 - Wolf Blood

Chapter 33 - Test Results

Chapter 34 - Welcome and Unwelcome

* * *

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter One**

**Shocking News**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Beep... Beep... Beep...

I knew I was slowly coming out of the forced darkness Joham and his daughters had chemically imprisoned me in. I knew that by the pain I was now feeling. What I did not know was how long I out this time

Everything was so fuzzy, again.

Ouch! The pain was horrible. The sedatives, or whatever else they were injecting into me, must have been interfering with my accelerated healing. Everything hurt, my head was still pounding and I couldn't move.

While Joham's daughters had gone through the motions, digging their bullets out, and taping up the remaining holes, nothing had been cleaned. The wounds were still bleeding, probably infected and oozing, and my shattered leg bone had barely begun to heal.

But that didn't matter. Joham had Nessie!

Was she really here? Was that really her I saw in Joham's clutches? What was he doing to her? I heard him say something about the offspring the two of them could produce. Vomit would have probably risen in my throat at that memory, if there had been anything in my stomach. A clue as to the amount of time we'd been held.

Had everything been real or was I just imagining it? Was it a dream? More like a nightmare. But no, it wasn't a nightmare. It was real. And I needed to wake up. I needed to get up. Get her. Save her. Escape!

My eyes fluttered open.

"Damn, he's waking up. Turn up that blasted drip again," one of Joham's daughter's voices shouted.

"NO!" I tried to yell, but to no avail.

* * *

Beep, Beep... Beep, Beep... Beep, Beep...

The pain was returning. I was waking up again. Hopefully, if I kept still, they wouldn't notice and force me back under.

"... important... she's alive," I heard a voice say. It sorta sounded like Bella's, but it couldn't be. Whose ever it was, it was fuzzy, and seemed so far away, almost like if they were in a tunnel. "... both alive, even if... rough shape."

"... how could she do... was _enjoying_... monster." That voice sounded like Edward's. I must be dreaming.

"Was it... he drugged... made her do... have a gift... didn't know about?"

"Not... aware of... run a blood test... drugs in her system... don't smell... can normally... aroma of a body... might have worn…" I must've started to go crazy because I could have sworn that one sounded like Carlisle's voice. Maybe it really was them. But what were they talking about?

"... going to... broken when he hears -"

The voice that I think belonged to Eddie spoke next. "Wait... starting to wake... think... hear us." Everything still sounded so strange, all muffled, going in and out, and none of the words made much sense. But then the darkness started pulling me back and I couldn't hear anymore anyway.

* * *

Beep, Beep... Beep, Beep... Beep, Beep...

Eventually, I'm not sure how much time passed, but the darkness lifted just like it had so many times before, the fuzziness I felt in my head cleared up, and I woke up once again.

I didn't hear either of the sisters so I risked opening my eyes. I was still trapped in Joham's fake hospital room. Damn-it! I half thought we'd been rescued. It seemed so real, but I must have dreamed hearing my family's voices. Nessie and I were still trapped.

Nessie!

I was actually able to move my head to look around, without much difficulty, this time. I saw her lying in a bed to my left. IVs were in her arm as well. What had that bastard done to her?

"Jacob it's alright. You're both safe."

Huh? Edward?

As I looked around I noticed this room wasn't exactly like the room Joham had set up. It was Carlisle's office turned into an infirmary, of sorts. We were safe. Nessie was safe. But what happened to her? Did they get to her in time, when I couldn't? Did they save her... in time?

"Did Joham...?" I looked to Edward, he probably read her mind and knew, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words.

Edward just nodded his head solemnly.

Nooooo! I screamed in my head. "Are you certain?"

"Joham was... they were... while we were closing in on you." Edward barely managed to choke out.

Argh, of course he did, that's why Joham had done of it. I heard what he said to her. I was barely conscious at the time but I remember how he threatened my life to convince her to go with him and not put up a fight. That was the sole reason he captured me as well and kept me alive; so she wouldn't fight back, and he could create some sort of mutant spawn with Renesmee.

I tried to go over to my sweet angel. I wanted to be closer to her, to hold her. But the hospital beds, we were currently in, were too far away from each other, and we were both hooked up to so many tubes and machines. I didn't really care about myself, but Carlisle stopped me as I tried to get up. And in truth I almost passed out just trying to sit up.

"Jacob, your body was pumped full of an extraordinary amount of drugs – tranquilizers, sedatives, muscle relaxants. You need to remain hooked up to the machines while they remove the toxins from your bloodstream. You almost died. You most likely would have if we'd gotten to you any later. I'm not entirely sure how you didn't"

Not likely, not when I new Nessie needed me.

The rest of the family came into the room now. They must have heard that I was awake. But I couldn't be bothered with their well wishes right now. I needed to make sure Nessie wasn't suffering.

"What's she thinking about? Do you know? Can you tell?" I asked Eddie, cutting off whoever was talking to me. I would have pressed her hand to my face to see her dreams if I could get to her.

After a minute or two of silence I pushed him further. "Please I have to know." _Is she having nightmares? _I didn't care if he'd to pick me up like a baby, and carry me over to her bed, if being closer to me would take her pain away.

"She's worried that you're going to be disappointed in her... in what she did. What she'd to do," Edward reluctantly answered me.

Disappointed? In her? There was no way. I was angry though. At Joham, and his daughters, and myself. I was angry that I wasn't there for her when she needed me, angry that I wasn't strong enough, angry that I didn't protect her, angry that I let it happen.

"Carlisle as soon as it's safe we need to determine if she is pregnant... with Joham's child," Edward seethed through a growl. Everyone in the room looked stunned; I guess he hadn't shared that bit of information with them yet. No one said a word, but Rose rushed out, with Emmett following close behind her. I could hear some of the nearby forest getting destroyed as the trees fell, one by one.

It seemed that even her baby crazed mind had its limits.

With a sullen expression the Doc whizzed around the room, setting up the ultrasound equipment he must have kept from when Bella was pregnant.

As he slid Nessie's shirt up a few inches I could plainly tell that her stomach had already started to grow larger, but no one said a word about it.

The wand moved around over her belly, but I didn't see anything. Everything looked dark. When was he going to turn the screen on?

Carlisle sighed after a minute. "Unfortunately her skin is too much like our own; I cannot see if there is indeed a fetus in there or not."

Did he really need a test to confirm what his eyes could see? I know the Doc always liked to be thorough but this just seemed ridiculous. But then again, it was too early for her to be showing anyway. Right? And there could be other reasons for her stomach to look larger. She was still aging, after all. I'm sure not very many women keep the perfectly flat tummies, into their twenties, that they once had as a teenager. And it was only a slight change.

"What about a urine or blood test?" Esme suggested as she stroked Nessie's hair.

"She is currently still too dehydrated right now for a conventional pregnancy test," the Doc informed us.

Dehydrated? How long had Joham held us before we were rescued?

"A little over a week," Edward answered my thoughts with the most strained voice I'd ever heard him use. Worse even than when Bella was pregnant. "He brought in a few people every now and then, but she refused to feed from them."

More than a week? That long? How many times had Joham... and my innocent angel...? I grew more furious and nauseated at the same time. If he's not already dead, if he somehow managed to escape, I was going to hunt him down and kill him.

"You're too late, she already did."

"Nessie killed Joham?" I asked Edward, in disbelief. What? She killed a full Vampire? By herself? How? Pride, sadness, and anger filled my mind and heart.

He neglected to answer me though and I didn't push it this time, so the Doc continued when neither Edward nor I, nor anyone else still in the room said anything for more than a minute. "I could try a blood test, but I'm uncertain if it will work."

Could you tell if someone was pregnant that way?

"Yes," Edward again returned to answering my unspoken question, "but it will take about twenty to thirty minutes to get the results, and that's if we can get enough blood out of her."

"Is that safe in her current condition? How badly did he hurt her?" I asked with a gulp. Having just woken up myself, I didn't even know. Actually I wasn't even sure how we got here.

"Physically she is... she will be _fine_. As you're aware she heals just as quickly as you. She was only minorly injured when the two of you were found, and mostly healed by the time we brought you both back here. She's just sleeping, now. It doesn't appear as if she'd slept in days. That's _currently_ the worst of her condition, besides the dehydration. It would be helpful to know how long it had been since she last hunted?"

"She'd just fed from a deer, right before we were captured." What had Joham done to her that she was like this? She'd gone a lot longer between meals before, seven weeks, when she thought it was the blood preventing her… us from getting pregnant; but back then she was eating human food to make up for it.

"We'll have to work fast. Alice, could you use your nail to make a small incision in her arm? I'll attempt to insert a needle before the wound closes up," Carlisle instructed.

There was already a couple tubes running into her left arm, one giving her, what I assumed by the color was blood, and another giving her some clear fluid, so Alice sliced a small scratch into her right, just large enough for Carlisle to insert the needle. He managed to get enough blood out of Nessie, miraculously without even waking her. I hope that didn't signal that there was something else wrong with her. But if she was just tired after all she'd been through she deserved to sleep as much as she wanted now. I didn't want to disturb her for any reason. I just hoped Edward was telling me the truth and she wasn't having any nightmares.

While we were waiting for the results someone else entered the room.

Jennifer! She was one of Nahuel's sisters. What the HELL was she doing here?

It had been almost an hour, since I'd first woken up, and was feeling much better, physically at least. Not completely one hundred percent but enough that I was able to leapt out of the bed. I phased mid-stride into my Wolf form and started growling at her before I even landed.

Why was she here? How could the Cullen's allow her to live? She was one of the ones behind this!

"No Jacob, she wasn't part of it," Edward said, while cautiously stepping between us, cutting off my direct line of sight to the third treacherous sister. "She came to us. That's how we found you. As soon as she learned of her father's plan she tried to warn us."

_Liar! _I growled passed Edward. It was a trick. They were ALL behind it.

"Jacob, it's the truth. I know you Imprinted on Renesmee, but she is my daughter, and I love her just as much as you."

_Not likely, _I growled back.

"If Jennifer was in any way behind this, I would know, and she would already be dead by now. Believe me," he stressed.

Argh! I was beyond irate and really wanted to rip someone's head off. But I couldn't attack her if she was innocent and was responsible for our rescue. After calming down enough to phase back I spotted Jasper in the corner. I still needed answers.

"Jasper," I yelled. His massive screw up was what led to this. "You said that Joham was gone, that he wasn't a threat."

"We didn't know he had anything planned when Maysun and I talked to Alice and Jasper," Jennifer responded instead, looking down at her feet. "It's not their fault. It wasn't until two weeks ago that he informed us of his plan and tried to get us to help him. I immediately refused and he locked me up in one of his experiment facilities." Now that I really looked at her I could see she still had faint wounds on her wrists, like they had been in restraints. Nessie's skin heals as fast as mine, so if the marks were still visible they must have been pretty bad. "Maysun was more willing to go with him, fearing his retaliation, and Serena is just as bad as him. I'm sorry I was unable to get to your family earlier, but it took me awhile to break free."

"You had left South America by the time she located us and we didn't know where you were," Jasper finally spoke up.

"So why didn't anybody call to warn us?"

"We did, at least we tried to. But you see, Joham considers himself a scientist, among other things, and is as comfortable with modern technology as we are. He brought some sort of jamming device with him into the forest. We found it and your mangled phones alongside dozens of ammunition shells and vials of empty horse tranquilizers."

Horse tranquilizers? That's what was in the dart gun they had used to slow me down?

"Jacob, please get back into the bed before you pass out again," Edward implored. "The drugs that were pumped into your system have only partially been cleaned out. I need to re-insert the IVs back into your arm. You'll probably feel weak and tired for the next few days."

"I'll be fine." I didn't really care about me, it was Nessie I was worried about. She was the only thing that mattered. But as much as I hated to admit it, he was right and I was suddenly lightheaded. I managed an entire two steps towards the bed before almost passing out, halfway down to the floor someone caught me.

I guess phasing took more out of me than I thought.

"Come on, back to bed with you," Bella said as she easily picked me up and placed me back in the bed while Edward reinserted all of the tubes that I'd torn out.

"I have the results," Carlisle announced when he returned a few minutes later, no hint of emotion in his voice or demeanor to give me any clues as to the outcome.

I didn't need any though. Even before he spoke Edwards face winced. It took on the appearance of the burning man it once held when he thought he would lose a pregnant Bella. I knew what that face meant without having to hear the words from the Doc.

The test was POSITIVE. Of course I already knew that, just by looking at her swelling stomach, but now that it was confirmed, it somehow was made more real.

I heard Bella whisper to Edward, "We need to get it out of her."

"No, you can't!"

No, not this again! Wait, was that my Nessie? She's awake!

"Renesmee we have to," I softly spoke as I tried to reach out to her, tubes and distance getting in the way. I didn't want her to have to go through anything more, but Bella was right. We needed to get that thing out of her before it hurts her more than she's already been.

"But the baby - it's yours, ours, my Jacob," she cried back, placing her hands protectively over her stomach.

I was barely able to respond. "You… you don't know that, honey." But was she right? I guess there was a very slight possibility that it could be mine. Of course there was a chance. But we'd been trying for months and the tests always came back negative. It was as if our DNA wasn't compatible. And it was too big of a risk if it wasn't.

"Yes, I do. You have to believe me, my Jacob."

"You're willing to take a chance and have that monsters baby?"

"No, I'm going to have our child."

"We should know soon enough, just by how fast it grows. If it develops too fast well know its Joham's, and then Carlisle can get rid of it," Edward suggested.

"Possibly," I heard Jasper seethe from the back of the room. I didn't even realize he was still here after my little outburst. I'll have to apologize for yelling at him later. He looked like he was in pain from all of the emotions running through the room. "It may be too late by then. A three quarter Vampire could possibly grow in days. Bella was only pregnant for a month with you. And you're only half-Vampire, Renesmee."

"Carlisle is there any way to tell whose child it is?" Bella asked.

"I'm afraid it's too risky in Renesmee's current state. And any test I could run would be potentially dangerous to the fetus. Regardless we couldn't do it yet, anyway. We would have to wait for the fetus to grow a bit. That is, if I can even get a needle through the embryonic sac. I couldn't with you," he reminded her. "But please realize that even if the fetus does grow rapidly there is no way to know if it is, in fact, Joham's. It could just as likely be Jacob's. There has never been a part-Vampire, part-shape-shifter baby. There is no way to determine how quickly Jacob's child could grow inside Renesmee, with their combined DNA."

Great, I never thought of that. Having my child could just as easily kill Nessie, too. No, I can't think like that. We were meant to be together. I didn't Imprint on her to just knock her up, and kill her.

"You both have had accelerated growth stages yourself," the Doc added looking at the two of us.

"So there is no way to tell? There's nothing you can do?" I spat. I know I shouldn't be taking it out on the Doc but this was Nessie's life we were talking about. I wanted answers.

"Calm down Jacob. We will monitor Renesmee. I promise to keep a close watch on her. When the time is right I'll attempt to determine the paternity of the fetus."

"Alice, can you see anything?" Bella turned to her with pleading in her eyes.

"I wish I could, but you know I can't see Nessie, or Jacob. Maybe that's a good sign. If it was Joham's I might be able to see something." She half smiled at that thought.

"Why won't any of you listen to me? This is Jacob's baby!" Nessie nearly screamed.

"Nessie," I was about to argue with her, but then I looked into her eyes. I know she wanted it to be true, but wishing something, no matter how hard, didn't guarantee anything. But if she wanted to keep this baby, even if it was _his_, then I would do everything in my power to make that happen. I knew she wanted a child, and it didn't seem like I was able to give her one. "Don't worry. No one is going to do anything without your consent." Not ever again, anyway.

Edward winced at my thought but nodded his head and reluctantly agreed. "But if this pregnancy puts Renesmee in any danger then we will be revisiting this topic."

_You'll have to go through me first, before you lay a hand on her, _I growled a warning in my head to him. I didn't want this turning into a fight right now. Nessie would not want that and she most likely would need all of her strength for what was to come.

"Yuck! I'm sorry but what's that horrible smell?" Nessie asked, holding her nose.

Smell? What smell?

"Oh, it's this." She pointed to the blood bag she was hooked up to. "What's in here?" I wonder if the Doc had added some medicine to it that was affecting the scent. I didn't smell anything, but it was possible that her nose was more sensitive than mine. I'd never thought to compare.

"We needed to feed and rehydrate you, Renesmee. Your condition wasn't improving as quickly as I would have liked, after your battle with Joham. In addition to the exhaustion, you were suffering from a lack of fresh blood in your system. I'd been concerned that you hadn't hunted frequently enough, but Jacob said that you had just fed, -" he hesitated for a moment not sure how to phrase the next part, it seemed, "before _everything_ happened, so I assume your weakened condition must be due to the pregnancy. The bag contains some O negative blood I acquired from the hospital. Since you were unconscious we needed to get it into your system somehow."

"Well it smells awful." Everyone in the room seemed shocked by this. "Do I still need it?"

"I would like to get the rest of it into your system. Since you're awake now it would be much quicker if you drank it. Then we can try some human food and see how you do with that."

Carlisle handed her the bag once he'd removed the tube from her arm, but she just made a face.

"Please, just drink it honey. It will help you heal."

"Oh, all right," she reluctantly agreed as she took the bag and practically gagged as she choked down the blood. This was so strange. Nessie loved blood, especially human blood, though she hadn't had any since she was a baby. Of course when Bella was pregnant her diet was all screwed up too.

Then right on cue, Bella showed up with a tray of food for each of us. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until now. But I guess it made sense, I technically hadn't eaten in over a week, while captured.

As I dug into the steak, that Bella made for me, I noticed that Nessie's tray had all different types of foods on it. The first plate she tried only contained scrambled eggs. Why would Bella think Nessie would want to eat that, right now? I know she liked them, but it didn't seem like something she would want to eat at the moment. Just like I assumed, Nessie spit it out as soon as it entered her mouth.

Next Bella handed her a bowl full of saltines, which was typical, boring food given to women with morning sickness; even I knew that. Nessie pushed that away as well.

The third option was a bowl of fruit. She might like that. She loved fruit and had been eating a ton of it on Isle Esme we we'd tried to get pregnant. I was so happy when we'd first found another human food Nessie had actually liked, besides eggs. But not today. Not even her favorite strawberries.

The last plate was a steak, like mine. I couldn't see how Nessie would like that if the smell of human blood was offensive to her right now, but she practically gobbled it up in one bite. And then surprised everyone even more by lifting the plate up and drinking the juice left there. I gave her mine to drink as well and she did the same.

"How do you feel, Renesmee?" the Doc asked her while checking the monitors and taking her pulse. "Do you feel dizzy or queasy at all?"

"No, that was just what I needed. Actually the juice was delicious. I could have done without the actual meat though."

"Well, perhaps in a few days, when you're feeling better, we can all go hunting," Edward chuckled, glad that his daughter was doing better. I was sure he was still concerned about her, and the pregnancy, just as I was, but he was at least trying to hide it, for now.

Now that Nessie seemed to be doing better physically, my mind started to wander back to how we ended up back here. What had happened? How had they saved us? How had they even found us? Jennifer must have known where we were. Did she lead the family to us? If that was the case then why couldn't she just call them? Wouldn't that have been faster? I'd a million questions.

"It wasn't us. It was Seth and Leah. Jennifer told us what Joham planned but didn't know where he'd taken you. I heard Seth's howl and we managed to locate your Packs scent trail, but by the time we got there everything was pretty much over," Edward began to explain. "When we entered the building they were taking out Maysun and Selena and Nessie was finishing off Joham."

Seth and Leah? I don't remember seeing them at all. I would need to talk to them later. Right now Nessie was my priority.

"How were you able to kill him?" I questioned her. I knew she was amazing, but was only a half-Vampire, not as strong or fast as a full one. How had she done it?

She looked nervous. Now I hated myself even more for asking her to relive that nightmare, but before I could take it back she started talking.

"When I heard Seth and Leah storm in, I knew they could easily handle Joham's daughters and you would be safe so I didn't have to continue-" she caught herself before she could say what she was thinking next. "Anyway, Joham and I were in another room... I'd been using my gift to distract him, it worked for awhile before I lost focus, having to prepare to attack him, and I didn't want him to see what I was planning. But my distraction gave me enough of a lead that I was able to get in a few clean hits. He fought back, but the damage was done enough that I was able to rip his head off."

"Really?" I looked at her in a combination of awe and disbelief. I was so amazed that I didn't know what to say.

"It's a good think you insisted on the additional fight training, Jake," Jasper reasoned. No kidding. Edward hadn't been happy with the idea at the time, but now I was so glad we'd resumed our lessons back in April, focusing on offence attacks instead of just defensive moves.

"It really came in handy," Nessie admitted, sort of embarrassedly, but she'd nothing to be embarrassed about. She was amazing, she is my angel. No wonder I love her.

She seemed almost happy, now. But she couldn't be, not after everything that she'd been through. Soon we were going to have to deal with what happened. But not today. Today she still needed her rest.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	2. Deer Blood

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Two**

**Deer Blood**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"Nessie, darling, are you thirsty?" my mother asked me.

"To be honest, yes, actually. I'm ravished but I don't think I have the energy to hunt, yet." Jacob and I'd only been back home for a day and I was still pretty tired.

"Don't worry," Aunt Alice chimed in. "Here at Chez Cullen we deliver. What are you in the mood for? Black bear, mountain lion, cougar? We have it all. Or at least we can get it all."

"Actually," I said hesitantly, "if it's all right with Grandpa Carlisle, I'm kind of in the mood for deer."

"Deer? Really? Nessie sweetie you can have anything you want. I'll travel hundreds of miles to get you exactly whatever you desire," my father admitted.

"Thanks, Dad. But I really, really do want some deer blood. That won't be a problem will it? I know animal blood is all different, and it's an herbivore. Is that going to make me heal slower?"

My grandfather replied that it would be fine and just as good as a carnivore's blood, although nothing would strengthen me as much as human blood. He offered me some more of the donated blood he got from the hospital, but the last bag tasted as bad as the cougar smelt in New York. What was this pregnancy doing to me? I know pregnant women crave strange foods, so I guess deer blood was my pickles and ice cream.

"Alright, Nessie, one deer coming up," my Aunt confirmed as she skipped out the door.

Forty-two minutes later she returned with something that I completely wasn't expecting. She held, by the neck, an actual deer. It wasn't thrashing around or trying to run away so Uncle Jasper must have been using his gift to calm it down.

"Oh, I was expecting some blood in a cup, or donation bag, or something."

"Don't be silly Nessie. You're not some weak little human, like your mother was, when we had to give her blood through a straw." I shuddered as I recalled the stories I'd heard of my mother's distressing pregnancy and my traumatic birth. "This way it's nice and fresh, still warm and pumping, and you're more than strong enough to drink it this way. It'll taste a whole lot better, too, than from some Styrofoamy, plasticky, gross cup."

She was probably right and I was so famished I wasn't about to argue. She easily dragged the still docile deer over to the bed and I quickly sank my teeth into its neck. Yum! But that didn't even begin to quench my thirst.

"More, please" I said, slightly embarrassed. I was being a pig, I know, but couldn't help myself. I was just so hungry.

"I'd a feeling you might say that," Aunt Alice hummed, as Jasper brought in yet another deer for me. Sometimes it was almost as if she _could_ actually see me.

"So does this mean we're all better? Or at least enough that we can finish recuperating in our own room?" I questioned my grandfather. I really just wanted to curl up in my Jacob's arms and pretend the last week was a dream, not the living nightmare it had been. But as long as I was in Jake's arms I could pretend, at least for a moment.

"I'd like to keep you hooked up to the monitors for at least a few more hours, Nessie. Drinking the blood has drastically improved your overall health but you're still suffering from your ordeal and you are... pregnant." He was trying to keep his tone professional but I could see the worry in his face and he looked slightly sad. Why was everybody upset about Jake and I finally getting pregnant? Wasn't this what everybody had hoped for? We'd tried for so long, and now it had finally happened.

Then it dawned on me. My grandfather, and probably everyone else in the family, still didn't believe me that this was Jake's child. But soon it wouldn't matter. Soon our son or daughter would be born and they'd see the truth. I didn't want to push the subject right now though because my grandfather continued to talk.

"And I'm afraid that Jacob is still in a less than desirable condition, he will need to stay here for the time being; a day or two at least, I would gather."

"Oh," I immediately felt bad for even suggesting it. I knew he'd been given a ton of drugs, but I'd never seen him not heal immediately from something before; well, except when he broke his arm. That took a few days. Was this worse than that? It must be if my grandfather was being this protective of him. "In that case, I definitely want to stay here with Jake."

"Can we at least push the beds closer together so I can hold her hand?" Jacob asked and I thought it was a wonderful idea. If I can't be in the same bed with him, I at least want to be next to him.

"That seems agreeable," my grandfather concurred. Before I knew it, my family had moved the two hospital beds so that they were joined. As soon as we were together Jacob and I embraced each other in a long-needed hug.

"Why don't we give them some time alone," someone said; I was too distracted from finally being reunited with my Jacob, to care who. But a few minutes… hours… days… I don't know how long, but when I looked up the room was empty, sans the two of us. The door had been left open a crack so they could still hear us, with the extra soundproofing Esme had installed, not to eavesdrop, I'm sure, but just to keep an eye, or an ear rather, on our conditions.

Later that day Leah and Seth came by to check on us. And Seth's Imprint, Carol even braved my Vampire family to come, too. I knew she was still slightly frightened by them, having heard the Quileute legends in her childhood about the Cold Ones, but I still held out hope that she would eventually get used to my family and not be so scared. The fact that she came here today gave me great hope, even if all she did was cling to Seth's side and not say a word the entire time she was here.

"So, I hear I have the two of you to thank for our rescue," Jake began.

We were so lucky they had moved to New Hampshire last year, so Carol could finish up grad school. If they hadn't been here who knows what could have happened.

"No, we were just a distraction. Nessie did all the hard work, killing that evil bloodsucker," Seth responded.

"Yeah Ness, you could have at least left a piece of him for us. Those two half-breeds were too easy to take out."

I know Leah was actually trying to be nice to me for a change, but I didn't really like what she said. Did she really see me as a half-breed? And Seth calling Joham a bloodsucker? Was that what they thought of my family as well?

Not knowing what to say, and not trusting myself to say something, err… inappropriate, I just smiled back at her.

"So…. um, how are you feeling?" Leah asked.

Was she asking about me or Jake? She hadn't looked at either one of us, but out the window, when she spoke. Maybe she was referring to Jake. He was still connected to more machines than I was. Then again maybe she was asking me. Had she heard I was pregnant? Should I be the one to tell them the good news?

"Not too happy about all of the tubes running in and out of us, but other than that I think we'll be fine," Jake thankfully answered for us, while pulling me into a sweet little kiss.

"So I hear... um... congratulations?... are in order? Is that true?"

Oh, yeah! Someone had already told them. "Yes, Seth. You heard right. Jake and I are having a baby." I broke out into a huge smile. I couldn't help it. I was so happy, and wanted everyone to share in our joy.

"You and Jake?" he said with a bit of skepticism in his voice, before Leah elbowed him.

Not them, too! Why does no one want to believe the truth?

"YES, Nessie is pregnant and is very HAPPY about it." Jake responded, emphasizing every single word for them. At least he was backing me up... verbally anyway. I'm sure his heart and mind will follow eventually.

"Oh, well that's, um, great, then. Congrats," Leah struggled to say, before throwing in an "I guess," under her breath. I think that was the best I was going to get from her. Personally I was shocked she even came to our rescue in the first place, knowing her less than warm feelings for me. Then again, Jake was her Alpha.

"Did you want us to call Billy?" Seth asked.

"Does he know what happened?" Jake looked concerned.

"We haven't told him yet. We wanted to talk to you first."

"Let's just not mention this to him then. I don't want to concern him for nothing."

"Sure, whatever you say, Jake." Seth seemed relieved that that was one phone call he, or his sister, wouldn't have to make.

"Can I ask you guys how you even knew we'd been captured? Or where to find us?" I hadn't been able to figure that part out and hadn't had a chance to ask anyone until now.

"It was Jake," Leah responded.

Jake? But he was sedated the entire time.

"I never called you guys." He looked just as confused as me.

"No, you were probably way too distracted by the bullets at the time to notice, but while you were being hunted in New York you were in your Wolf form and I just happened to be phased at the same time. I saw everything. I immediately started running to you and howled for Seth to follow. I wasn't sure he could, having given up his Wolf nearly nine months ago," she said, throwing Seth an apologetic look.

"It's okay. I was able to stop phasing once. I can do it again. It's not like you would call if it wasn't an emergency. I knew that," Seth breezily replied.

Carol didn't seem as unconcerned.

"It took me awhile to figure out exactly where you were," his sister continued, ignoring her brother's Imprint, "but once we figured out what forest you were taken in, in New York, it was a matter of following your scent to Joham's complex. It wasn't easy, you were in a truck, or van, or something. We kept losing your scent, but luckily Joham must have been paranoid, or whatever, and switched the vehicles that he was transporting you in, a few times. If he hadn't kept stopping and moving you, letting your scent escape at the same time, we might never have found you."

I initially hadn't understood why we kept switching trucks, keeping us in one seemed like it would have been the smarter thing to do. But after awhile I began to realize that Joham must have stolen them and was worried about getting stopped by the police. I knew my family would have been able to pick up our scent too if they were close enough, but would lose it immediately if we were in an enclosed car. Thank goodness Wolves sense of smell was better than Vampires. Though the vans had no windows I could see when we were moved that we were heading back to New Hampshire, over two hundred fifty miles from where we were taken. I tried thinking of a way to escape back then, but Serena literally held a gun to Jacob's unconscious head the entire time, effectively ensuring that I would not try anything.

Once we arrived at Joham's complex, hidden in plain sight among other indiscriminate warehouse buildings, I understood why he hadn't just brought us to any old building; something closer by, and not bother with moving us so far. The place we were held in was a fortress, not the old fashioned fortified castle type, but a modern day version; a concrete building with few windows, protected on all sides with a security fence and cameras. Inside there was an entire laboratory, and Jacob's "hospital" room, amongst various others. Joham had obviously spent a lot of time setting this up. It made sense that he'd to bring me back there, he'd probably wanted to capture me closer to home and only have a short transport, but Jake's and my vacation away from my family gave him the perfect opportunity to grab me, relatively alone.

"It took us longer than we hoped as it was. Sorry we didn't alert the Cullen's, but when I saw what was happening I just phased without thinking and ran. Maybe Alice should add a pocket to my slip for a cell phone," she chuckled awkwardly, trying to divert some of the tension.

It took a few tries, but Alice had made Jake, and later Leah when she moved to New Hampshire, these expanding clothes they could wear under their regular clothes that would expand with them when they phased – shorts for Jake and a tank/slip for Leah. It was perfect for impromptu phasing when they didn't have time to take their clothes off and tie them to their leg. Sure their outer clothes would shed, but when they phased back they wouldn't be naked.

"Leah, don't even worry about it. You did great, you both did. We're here now because of you."

"Yeah but if we'd gotten to you a little sooner, or I'd thought to call the Cullen's, then maybe Nessie wouldn't be -"

"LEAH! I said it was fine," Jake screamed, cutting her off.

"Jake, don't yell at her." I didn't want him making Leah feel bad; she'd saved us, after all.

"Maybe we should let the two of them get some rest," Seth suggested before the three of them said goodbye. Seth even gave me a parting hug.

* * *

That night, wrapped safely in Jacob's arms, I finally felt safe and was able to sleep. Really sleep. Not the short cat naps I'd taken while in Joham's hands, or when I passed out from sheer exhaustion after getting rescued.

I finally, truly slept.

I was slightly worried about having nightmares, but just as with the ones I had after the Volturi came when I was a baby, Jacob kept them away.

While the nightmares I was so afraid of never manifested, my dreams were still extremely strange.

I had more than one dream where I was just bursting at the gut. It could have been because I'd fed on three deer that day and was extremely full. The tightness in my stomach was overwhelming and everything in me seemed so full. I knew I'd fed too much, but I was so thirsty, and they tasted so good.

This was probably the feeling movies and television shows aim to depict of people who've gorged themselves, and then felt disgusting, after eating an entire Thanksgiving dinner.

When I woke up the next morning I found a better explanation for my dreams though.

My stomach had grown and I looked like I was about four months pregnant, I guessed, based on what I'd seen in diagrams in my grandfather's medical books. It wasn't like I was huge, but the clothes I'd gone to sleep in were too tight on me now, and I was rather uncomfortable. At some point in the night the zipper on my slacks had even ripped open, but wasn't enough and didn't offer enough relief to my bulging belly.

"Nessie, oh crap!" Jake uttered in shock seeing my expanded stomach, for the first time, when he woke, a few minutes after me. "Are you okay?" But he never let me answer because he started yelling for my grandfather. When Grandpa Carlisle arrived _he_ didn't however seem surprised by my updated condition, and pretty much established that he already knew when he handed me a large dress to change into. I assumed my grandfather would check on both of us throughout the night so I was sure he'd seen my stomach growth, or rather the baby inside, before this moment.

"How are you both feeling this morning?" my Grandfather calmly asked us.

Jake looked a lot better today, but instead of confirming as much to my grandfather, he started shouting, "Why are you asking about me? LOOK AT HER!" all the while gesturing to my stomach.

"Jake, I feel fine. Actually, I'm a little hungry. No, I'm thirsty," I corrected.

"That's understandable." My grandfather said. "The fetus has grown extraordinarily quickly, even faster than your mother's pregnancy with you. We should introduce more blood into your system as soon as possible. First though I want to ask if you're in any pain?" I just shook my head, no. "Please let me know if that changes, even in the slightest," he said. "Now do you mind if I do a quick examination?"

I told him he could go right ahead, seemingly upsetting Jake even more.

Grandpa Carlisle lifted my shirt a few inches to reveal my burgeoning stomach; I'd wait till he left to change into the dress. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jacob cringe, probably expecting to see the bruised splotches that I learned had once covered my mother's pregnant stomach. But I was a half-Vampire, and much stronger and more durable than she was. My stomach looked the same as before; completely unblemished, just larger. When he saw the same I watched Jake sigh in relief.

"Everything appears to be progressing normally, if not rather quickly. You seem to be in perfect health. I'll inform Alice you're awake so she can retrieve a few more animals," he told me after finishing poking around with his hands.

"Actually," Jake piped up, "do you mind if I get you something Nessie? I'm feeling better and would love to be able to provide this for you. I want to do something to help you."

My grandfather shook his head, "You should stay in bed for the time being. I'm not sure how much of the drugs you were given are still in your system."

"Come on Doc, I feel fine and... I bet phasing will help me heal faster."

My grandfather seemed to consider what Jake said for a second. "You may have a point. You know your Wolf form better than I do. All right, if you feel up to it, but stay in the area and turn around if you feel light headed, or weak, or dizzy, in even the slightest way. Would you like someone to go with you?"

"Neah, Doc. I'll be fine." Then he turned to me as he pulled the IVs out of his arm. My grandfather was about to object to him doing that but the small puncture holes closed up by themselves, almost instantaneously. "Nessie, I'll be right back with a yummy deer for you. I love you," he said, placing a kiss on my forehead, like he used to do when I was younger.

"I love you too, thanks," I said as he ran out of the room. "Where is everyone?" I questioned my grandfather as soon as Jake was gone. I'd assumed my entire family would have been in the room with me this morning as soon as I woke up.

"I sent your father and Jasper to the hospital to grab a few supplies that I'll need soon. I'm afraid Rosalie and Emmett have not returned yet, but Alice assures us that they will be back by nightfall. She, Esme, and your mother are downstairs discussing a few things."

"What sort of things?"

My grandfather's response to my simple question revealed that he was hiding something from me. I'd learned over the years that when he was trying to deceive someone, whether giving a patient bad news or trying to peacefully calm a stressful situation among Vampires, the more agitated the situation the smoother he spoke. Charisma poured off of him in waves as stress levels increased.

"I don't believe your mother was quite prepared to be a grandmother this soon," he purred. He went on but I stopped paying close attention as soon as I knew what he was telling me was pure gibberish.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," I lied back when he stopped talking.

"Even if she'd continued aging as a normal human, she would only be about twenty-five by now, that's rather young to be a grandmother. Of course, six is also pretty young to be a mother."

Wait, what day was it? "Did I miss my birthday; am I six?"

"I'm afraid so," he smirked, happy to change to a less contentious subject. "Your birthday was yesterday. But we can celebrate it as soon as you feel up to it."

"Oh." Bummer.

* * *

Thanks for reading. What do you think?

Please review


	3. Speedy Delivery

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Three**

**Speedy Delivery**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Nabbing a deer for Nessie was easier than I thought it would be. Not knowing how much of the muscle relaxants and tranquilizers and whatnot, were still in my system, I was unsure of my strength at the time, and I guess I used a little bit too much force with the beast. I felt good, but the Doc said I could still be pretty weak. Apparently he was wrong. I didn't kill the deer, but it was definitely knocked out cold. I don't know for how long, but at least it made it easier carrying the thing back to Nessie.

I'd been in my Wolf form while hunting, but the deer was easier to carry back on two feet; arms were always useful for things like this, so I'd phased back. Wanting to be quick I hadn't gone too far from the house to begin with and while faster before I probably wouldn't lose that much time now on two feet.

Twenty minutes after I started running back I picked up Bella's voice. She was discussing something with Esme and Alice. I heard Nessie's name mentioned and that perked my interest. Well, everything about Nessie was interesting to me, and considering all that had happened, it wasn't surprising that they were talking about her. Hopefully everything was okay, and nothing bad had happened while I was gone, but I was still too far away and the forest was too dense that couldn't see them, yet.

Nessie was my world and I wanted… needed to be there with and for her, but I also needed to get out of that room, just for a little while. Being in Carlisle's office turned hospital room was just too much like the one Joham had kept me in. I couldn't take it; it became hard to breathe in there and I needed to get away, just for a little. It had felt like the walls were collapsing in on me. I'd never been claustrophobic before, but being stuck in that room, hooked up to the machines, with their constant beeping, and the hourly check-ins by Carlisle and Edward, not to mention Nessie's growing stomach, and the feelings of my own failure and inadequacies… it was all too much.

Not only had Johan forced himself on Renesmee, but he had given her the child that I had failed to. Inadequate was just the beginning of emotions I was feeling once I worked though anger, hatred, disgust, and a dozen other emotions. And then there was the looks everyone was giving me, compounding my failure. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it was only sympathetic ones, but there were also lots of pity. And disgust, too. Sure that one was from Nahuel, I shouldn't have expected any better.

I couldn't stand that guy. And he hated me for taking his one opportunity at a mate away from him, but Nessie chose me. Now a small part of me was wondering if she should have. Joham might not have bothered with her if she had picked his son over me. A different choice could have saved her from him.

But she didn't, and now was pregnant with Joham's child, and there was nothing I could do about it… except get her this blood.

Finding a deer hadn't taken long. I didn't think anything could happen to Nessie in such a short amount of time. But now listening to snippets of the conversation I was now left wondering if I was wrong?

"I just don't understand how she could do it," I heard Alice chirp, or squeak, or whatever, as she seemed to do in her high pitched voice.

"We don't know the whole story dear; he could have made her, somehow, or Edward could be wrong." Esme countered. "He could have had a gift that we were not aware of."

I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but if it had to do with Nessie I wanted to know, so I slowed my pace to hear better.

"Nahuel and Jennifer swear he didn't possess any."

"Perhaps he kept it hidden from them."

"Don't forget that no one has asked Renesmee her side of the story yet," Bella's voice now joined the other two.

"But Edward saw into her mind. I've never seen him falter like that when he was running, and heard what she was doing with Joham. There was no mistaking anything on his part. He's sure of what happened. What good would asking Nessie do? She slept with Joham and she _liked_ it. I just don't understand how she could do that to Jacob. I thought she loved him."

What? I could believe what I was hearing and was frozen in shock.

"She didn't Imprint on Jacob, Alice. He Imprinted on her. It's different. Maybe Joham was more charming than we gave him credit for. Or, maybe when she got to know him, he wasn't such a bad guy, after all. Or, maybe it was that Stockholm Syndrome you're always hearing about in movies and on the news."

"What are you talking about Esme? He nearly killed Jacob. He abducted both of them. No matter if she fell for his act or not, he was still a monster. And she didn't love him, she couldn't. She killed him, remember?" Bella countered to Esme.

"None of this makes sense. There has to be more to the story than we know about; more than even Edward got from the brief glimpse..."

**"**Jacob, you shouldn't be hearing this," Edward's voice broke through, coming as a complete shock to me. Where had he even come from? He quickly approached me from... I don't even know where. I hadn't even heard him until he'd started talking; I'd been too wrapped up, and bewildered by the conversation going on at the house.

Bella, Esme, and Alice were still talking but I didn't want to hear any more. Somehow, though, it sounded familiar. It took a moment, but I realized where I'd heard it before… the strange dream I had before I woke up in the Doc's room. But now I knew it wasn't a dream after all, it was real. And it was a waking, living, nightmare!

"Come on, Jacob," Edward prodded me, taking the still unconscious deer out of my hands. "We'll figure out the truth about what really happened, but not now. Right now Renesmee needs us to be strong for her. And whatever did happen, we will have to wait to find out. We need to get this to her soon. I can hear how thirsty she is."

Huh? I'd completely forgotten about the deer in my hands and what I was doing out in the woods. Edward grabbed my arm and started leading me back to the house. I was in no condition to be able to even walk in a straight line on my own right now.

"Nessie loves you, I'm sure of that, Jacob," Edward tried to reassure me. I knew she did, but I also knew that you could love more than one person. Suddenly the idea of her and Nahuel didn't sound quite so bad. No wait, yes it did. She was mine and the thought of sharing her, with _anyone_, was repulsive.

Having Joham force himself on her was one thing, as repugnant as that was. The fact that she might have willing been with him, and enjoyed it, while I was in the other room... after all he did to her, to me, to both of us, it was just too much.

Resentment and rage boiled inside of me. I couldn't take it anymore. Without thinking I phased and ran. I needed to get out of here and clear my head, before I went back to Nessie. I didn't want to be angry in front of her and accidentally hurt her. I loved her… no matter what. I was angry at myself for putting her in that situation in the first place.

Running was good. As a Wolf so many problems seemed to disappear as I let my baser instincts take over. This way what I just heard faded to the background and I could easily focus on my breathing. In... out... in... out. Simple. One paw in front of the other, faster and faster through the forest. Rushing past bushes, rocks, trees and streams, while taking in the smell of the pine and cedar, I relaxed more and more with each breath. Eventually I'd calmed down enough to here birds chirping, and enjoyed feeling the wind blowing thru my fur.

I ran for miles and miles, and as I ran, what was really important in life became clear, not only for me as a Wolf but as a man in love as well. I love Renesmee and it didn't matter what she did, it didn't affect my love for her, the only thing that I was worried about was her affection for me. Did she still love me? Since we got woke up I hadn't noticed any difference. Nothing about her behavior, or attitude, or look towards me had changed. It was only the conversation I overheard that made me question that love. I needed to go back.

Just over eighteen hours later I was back in New Hampshire. I hadn't meant to be gone so long, but by the time I calmed down I'd run pretty far from the house and then had to make the long journey back.

As the house came into view I phased back onto two feet and saw Edward come out to greet me, caring a shirt, pants and pair of shoes for me, to replace the ones I'd shredded when I phased. I had on a pair of the special expanding shorts, Alice had made me years ago, that expanded and contracted with me as I phased, but it was nice to have a full set of clothes to put on., going back to apologize to Nessie.

"Thanks," I quietly said as I took the clothes.

"It's good that you're back." Edward's voice was very tight and controlled. I figured he, and everyone else, would be pissed by my departure, but his expression was a bit much. He was probably fuming inside. "Nessie went into labor an hour ago."

"WHAT?" But she has only been pregnant for a few days now. How was that possible?

"Carlisle believes she must have first conceived over a week ago. But her skin is so much like ours that it had been preventing any expansion up until yesterday, at that point the size of the fetus simply became too much to contain. Her stomach continued growing exponentially the entire time you were gone. Alice, Esme, and Jasper have been out looking for you for hours. I was about to call Leah to see if she could find you."

I felt even more horrible for leaving now but I would have to beat myself up about that later. I needed to get up there, be with her, help her through the delivery. How could I have left? It was so selfish of me. But I was here now and I vowed to never leave her side again.

Edward shook his head. "It's all over Jacob, you missed it."

I missed it? The entire delivery? Already? Didn't these things normally take hours, or even days, sometimes? "Is she okay?" Did they have to cut it out of her, like they did with Bella?

"Nessie will be fine, physically at least... eventually. Come in the house and meet your son." He started to turn toward the house.

"Alright," I agreed, "but Edward, Nessie isn't here, you don't need to pretend with me, I know it isn't mine." This charade, that the baby was mine, that we were all pretending to go along with, for Nessie's benefit, was exactly that - for HER benefit.

"Well unless Joham had a tail that no one noticed I assure you he's yours, and he needs your help." Edward then smirked. He actually smirked.

Wait... a tail? As in a Wolf's tail? Huh?

"He phased half way out of the birth canal. I have never seen Carlisle so... shocked by anything before. I think the little guy needs your help figuring out how to phase back."

He phased? While still inside Nessie? And she's still alive? How? My knees became weak and I thought I might pass out, but Edward just said Nessie was fine. Well no. He said she would heal... eventually. Ouch! Images of Emily's scarred face and arm flooded my mind. That must have been beyond painful. Again I wondered how could she still even be alive?

"She's strong and heals fast. Carlisle is just finishing up doing what he can for her. It will take some time, but he's sure she will make a full recovery."

Even as Edward was finishing his sentence I began running back to Nessie and MY SON faster than I'd ever run before.

"Hi sweetheart," I said as I walked into the room. She was still in the hospital bed, with more IVs stuck in her arm than when I left; I'm guessing delivering her a massive amount of pain meds. Even with whatever Carlisle had done, which I was sure was extensive, I could already see the beginnings of blood oozing from the bandaged covered wound on Nessie stomach.

Bella was by her side, struggling to hold the baby Wolf in her hands, who was trying and failing to bite her. Nessie seemed like she was trying to calm him down, cradling his head in her hands, whispering, comforting words to him, but he was shaking like a leaf. He seemed truly terrified. Nessie was doing what she could, but phasing so young must have been more than a little confusing for the little guy.

I kinda expected the rest of the family to be here now, at least those not looking for me. (Edward had called everyone, who had been out looking for me, on his cell as we ran back to the house.) But the rest of the room was empty. Where were they?

"It seems that you son does NOT like Vampires, he was barking and clawing at everyone and we thought it best to mostly clear out," Edward answered my thoughts, again. "Bella is doing the best she can, since Nessie is unable to hold him right now."

In truth it didn't really matter to me where everyone else was. Nessie was the only one I really cared about. Well Nessie and the baby. But I'd let them down.

She hadn't said a word to me yet. I've been in the room a few minutes now, just staring in awe at the sight before me.

"Please forgive me, Nessie. I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm sorry I didn't help you. I'm sorry I missed it, I'm so sorry you had to go through the birth of our child alone." Somewhere in between all of my _I'm sorry's_ I started crying. Partially because I was so happy she was safe, and alive, but also because I'd screwed up… big time.

Nessie turned her head to look at me for the first time since I'd come in. She looked tired… and pissed. "Jacob, your son needs you right now, we can talk about everything later, after you get your son to phase back," she snapped at me. This was the first time she didn't automatically forgive me for something I did, whether it was right or wrong. And she was right not to, I abandoned her when she needed me most, I deserved it.

Without Nessie cooing in his ear the little guy turned his head to where she'd been looking. He managed to break out of Bella's hold and started running towards me but then must have seen or smelt Edward behind me and turned and ran the other way, hiding in a deserted corner of the room. Poor little guy, he was shaking he was so scared. I immediately phased. The room was large enough that I had plenty of space without having to worry about hurting anyone.

Once phased, I tried communicating with my son using our shared Wolf telepathy. It seemed strange, I wasn't sure he was going to be able to understand me but I saw in his mind how he seemed as intelligent as Nessie was as a newborn, and already had a basic vocabulary. But I didn't even need words, I just thought about the feeling associated with phasing back and a few seconds later the newborn Wolf was a newborn baby.

Actually no he wasn't, he was still a baby, but definitely not a newborn. I guess that would make sense. Bella was pregnant for roughly a tenth the normal human amount of time. And Nessie grew to adulthood just about three times as fast a human. She was only pregnant with our son for what? Ten days, at most? Combine her accelerated growth with Wolf quickened growth rates and this kid would likely be an adult in the next two to three years if things didn't change.

A few years, that's all we got of a childhood with our son? That wasn't long enough. What if it was even shorter, and he grew at the same rate as a Wolf when we first phased. I had appeared to age almost ten years in a few months.

I wanted to look at him, now that he was back to human, and see his eyes. I was worried about this part. Well. I was worried about a lot of things, but this currently I was choosing to focus on. Everything else seeming too overwhelming, presently. Even now that I knew the kid was mine, and not Joham's, there was still a chance. Would he have eyes like mine and Nessie's? Or Edward and Bella's? I was bracing for the three possibilities I could think of – Brown, like mine and Nessie's. Golden, Like Bella and Edward's, since Nessie only drank animal blood, or... Red, like a newborn's.

Please don't be red, just don't be red...

And his eyes were... blue?

"Jacob most babies are born with blue eyes and then they change soon after. It's quite normal, I assure you," Edward explained.

As I reached out my hands to hold him, both Bella and Edward shouted in unison, "NO!"

"We need to check to see if he's venomous first. Nessie has venom in her, just because her bite is not venomous, does not guarantee a child between the two of you would not be," Edward added.

That seemed pretty farfetched. He was a Wolf after all. But after everything I would hate to get bitten by my own child and die, leaving my angel without me, if she even still wanted me anymore, that is. I'd abandoned her when she needed me most, and there was the whole Joham-love issue that I didn't even want to think about.

A couple minutes later, due to his accelerated growth, my son's eyes did indeed change to brown. And he was hungry.

"I grabbed some formula and O negative. Which should we try first?" Rose questioned from the doorway. I guess she'd returned sometime while I was away.

"Formula! Definitely." I knew it was a long shot, but I could use another miracle around now.

She tried both but he wouldn't drink the formula, or the blood. He was hungry and screaming. His cried getting louder and louder as the minutes flew by.

Poor little guy, he must be starving.

"Why not try animal blood, that's all I wanted," Nessie suggested.

Of course that made sense.

"We should get some for both of you," Bella recommended to Nessie.

Twenty minutes later Rose walked in with a deer for Nessie and a bottle full of deer blood for the baby. He stopped screaming and his face lit up as soon as the blood smell entered the room.

While Rose held the deer so Nessie could drink it, I held my son, after Carlisle had determined that he wasn't venomous, and was about to place the bottle in his mouth, when he surprised everyone by reaching for it himself and began drinking on his own.

He gobbled it all down in a few minutes. I guess he really was half of Nessie and me. When he was down he reached for more. Rose was ready and handed me another bottle. She looked like she wanted to hold him herself, but just getting close to me to hand me the bottle produced growls out of my son and she sadly shrank back. When he finished his second bottle he drank another, and another, and another. With every one he seemed to grow, and age, getting bigger before our eyes. He was growing much faster than Nessie ever did.

I instantly had fallen in love with him, but was growing more worried as the minutes and hours passed.

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading.

So the baby turned out to be Jacobs. Yeah! But he seems to be having some issues with the Cullens. ?

Keep reading to find out what happens next. So many questions-

Will Nessie forgive Jake for leaving? Will she still even want him? Had she fallen in love with Joham? Has Jake really forgiven her for that? What will become of the two of them?

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Explanations

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Four**

**Explanations**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

It had been two days since I'd given birth. There was a pretty significant hole left in my lower abdomen, from when my son had phased out of me, but it was slowly healing. My Grandfather had tried stitching me back together, and while he was able to work his magic on my insides, my skin was another matter. It was as tough as his, and he was barely able to get the needle through (with the help of Aunt Alice's nails) but then my skin confounded him and expelled the thread. After several attempts he eventually gave up and ended up having to settle for wrapping my middle up in bandages. Even with my accelerated healing he was still having to change the wrappings twice a day, but assured me that my skin was weaving itself back together on its own.

Being practically indestructible made me unused to the reality of pain, having never had more than some minor aches after a long session of fight training in the past. My Grandfather had given my an epidural as soon as I went into labor, so I hadn't felt the full impact of basically having my torso torn in two, but now that it was out and I was just on regular pain killers I was more than a little uncomfortable, to say the least.

And being stuck in this stupid hospital bed wasn't helping. I hated the thing, it wasn't nearly as comfortable as my own, and I felt like I was on display in the middle of his office. I know my family kept coming in so often to make sure I was okay, and see if I needed anything, but right now I just felt so miserable I just wanted some privacy. Making my mind up I decided that the next time my Grandfather came to change my bandages I would tell him as much. He didn't agree to my moving right away, wanting to see me heal a little more, first, but he promised if I kept healing at my current rate, I could be moved to my bedroom sometime tomorrow.

My family had been busy transforming Jake's old bedroom into a nursery for our son. He was still anxious, if not terrified, around my family so Jake was shouldering almost all of the caretaker responsibility, while I recovered. But I needed to clear things up, with him, so I'd asked my mother to ask him to come talk with me as soon as our son was asleep.

"Nessie?" Jake hesitantly approached me a few hours later. Since the delivery we'd barely said two words to each other, other than when I'd snapped at him when he first came back from where ever he'd run off to. I was angry at him at first for leaving like that, but when Jake took our son outside a few hours later to run around, my father explained Jake's reason for taking off. While I understood, he'd still missed his only son's birth. He could never get that back.

But his missing his son's birth was not what I wanted to talk to him about now. It was the reason for why he left in the first place. We were both upset about what I'd done with Joham, even though what he thought and what I knew had happened were not the same. I just didn't know how to talk to him about it, but I needed too. He deserved to know what truly happened. I just hope I could bring myself to tell him the _whole_ truth. And I hoped that he would forgive me.

"Jake," I started, "we need to talk." I'd wanted my voice, and my words, to sound firm and strong, that I was sure about myself, but it came out more like a whisper - a childish, scared, whisper. Damn, I wasn't off to a good start, and I didn't think it had anything to do with the pain meds. Before beginning to talk again I steadied my resolve; I was going to make it through this. WE were going to make it through this.

"Oh, alright," he sighed. He seemed so sad; this needed to be done, now. "Nessie, I'm so sorry for everything. For leaving when I should have been here, during our son's birth -"

"Jake -" I tried interjecting, but he kept talking.

"And for not protecting you from Joham, for even making the possibility of the two of you to -"

"Jake!" I tried again, a little more forcefully.

"You must hate me. I hate myself for what I've done. I'll understand if you want me gone."

Why wouldn't he listen? "Jake, I don't -"

"I'll start packing." He signed again and started to walk away.

What? No! "How could you -"

When he got to the door he stopped and turned around. "Would it be alright if I got a place nearby, so that I could see our son every once in awhile? I mean... I know you wouldn't want to see me anymore, but I just -"

This is ridiculous. Clearly talking wasn't working. "Come here!" I shouted, pointing at a spot next to me. I'd never really ordered him before but I needed to do something and couldn't exactly go over to him. Reluctantly he did as I asked, never taking his eyes off the floor, but walked slowly over. As soon as he was by my side I grabbed his head, pushed mine to his and started kissing him, albeit rougher than I intended. I needed his full attention, so I shoved my tongue into his mouth, a little forcefully but he hadn't parted his lips on his own like I'd hoped, like he'd always done in the past, and I didn't think a little peck between us would help my case right now. That got his attention. After a minute or two I broke the kiss. He looked stunned. At least it got him to stop his insane ramblings. My turn now.

"Jake, stop talking nonsense. I don't want you to go anywhere, I love you. Always." After a moment Jake breathed a sigh of relief, and finally relaxed a bit, but still looked confused. "Why do you always question my love for you? We were made for each other." Of course I knew why. At least this time. My father had mistakenly planted a seed of doubt in his, and everyone else's, mind.

"Sure, sure," Jake just mumbled. Damn-it, this was going to be harder than I thought.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you. We need to talk about what happened," I began again, "with Joham."

"Nessie, that monst... Joham, had you, us, for over a week. I was practically, well, almost completely unconscious the entire time. I don't know what happened between you and him... only what I overheard. You were the one who... If you fell in love with him... I guess I sort of had it easy until now... not having to witness -" He was having a hard time, forming complete sentences, probably not wanting to think about exactly what he thought had happened.

"Jake, you didn't have it easy! You were shot, and drugged, your bones were broken. What I went through was nothing compared to that."

"I'm sorry Nessie, I tried to get to you, before he... and you... but I failed."

"No, you kept trying to wake up, to get to me. To save me. So much so that Maysun and Serena had to keep pumping more and more sedatives, tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, and who knows what else, into your system that you barely made it. You tried so hard to save me that you almost died."

"But I didn't. And you and Joham -" He started choking on his own words, again.

This was ridiculous. "Why don't I just show you what really happened." He was upset about incorrect information, and I didn't want this going on any longer. I would just have to be brave, put my own insecurities aside, and show him the truth. Too much time had already been lost between us, in the past, by confusion of our own creation, because we didn't talk to one another. I wasn't going to let that happen again.

After placing my hand in his he gave me a slight head nod and I began at the beginning. "At first all Joham did was talk to me." He was actually strangely, oddly polite, at first, in his own psychotic way.

I showed Jake the explanation Joham had given me for his whole evil plan, starting all the way back with the first woman showing up among the body donations at the Hospital that my Grandfather had found almost a year ago.

My father was downstairs with the rest of our family looking after our sleeping son, and I had a feeling he would be listening in on this conversation. I was showing Jake images with my gift, combined with telling him out loud different aspects of what happened. My father would be able to let everybody else know the details so I wouldn't have to repeat myself later.

I thought they might be interested in clearing up the body dump donation mystery, but knew they mostly cared about the details of my ordeal with Joham. The bodies were not part of a diabolical scheme like we worried. I used my gift to show Jake how it was just the easiest way for Joham to dispose of the bodies, he fed from, without exposing himself and provoking the Volturi. He was a scientist after all (sort of) so of course he was used to the medical world.

He did of course stop and switch, as we knew, and dumped bodies off at Nahuel's doorstep, for a while. But we already found out why he did that - to try to get Nahuel back to his normal Vampire diet. But once Nahuel moved back in with us Joham went back to his previous disposal location of the hospital, since he knew he would be in the area for a while.

Joham told me how he, or one of his daughters, had been tracking me for months, getting to know my habits, and looking for an opportunity to take me when I was alone. But I never was; Jake, or one of my family members, were always, always with me. Joham had been very patient, but as my fertility deadline approached he knew he needed to act.

Jake and I going on vacation together gave him the perfect opportunity. I wasn't completely alone, but one was better than nine protectors. And Jake not being a Vampire gave him a much better opportunity to grab me, since his skin wasn't impervious to needles or a gun's bullets, so he wouldn't even have to get close to us, just like with his surveillance using binoculars, combined with Vampire eyes, he could see me from many miles away, just like a guns bullets, he didn't need to get close to disable Jake.

And as long as Joham stuck with one of his daughters, he knew Alice would not be able to see anything he was planning; having learned most everything needed to pull his plan off, unwittingly from Jennifer, already.

I didn't really need to show him how we'd gotten captured. Jake was there, and conscious, for that part. He knew what happened, and I'm sure my father had already seen it, in both of our minds, so he could tell everybody in the family that didn't already know.

Okay, now that the easy part of the story was over, I took a few deep breaths before continuing again.

Once we were in Joham's lair, or laboratory, or fortress, or dungeon, (whatever you wanted to call it) Jacob was, _thankfully_ brought to some sort of medical room that Joham had set up, to treat the injuries he sustained during our capture. This, of course, was only partially beneficial for him.

Nahuel's daughters made a show out of "treating" his wounds, - digging out the bullets, resetting his shattered leg, and patching his head wound, which turned out to be more of a grazed bullet that just took out a chunk of skull, and bled a lot, but didn't damage his brain, like I'd feared.

Instead of giving him painkillers like they claimed, they were really pumping him full of the sedatives and muscle relaxants and a bunch of other drugs that my Grandfather had found in his system.

The drugs were only to keep Jacob calm and contained; they didn't want him attacking them. They knew he would fight to the death to protect me. And they thought keeping him alive would make me more cooperative. Which, of course, they were right.

There was nothing I could do at the time to help him. All I could do was hope he hadn't been in too much pain. I'd hoped that, at least, if he was unconscious, he wouldn't feel as bad as he looked, because he looked pretty bad.

"Joham would bring in these young men and women, for me to drink, acting like he was being so benevolent. I refused them, but they died anyway. He made me watch as either he or one of his daughters fed from them. He seemed to think it would make me change my diet." I didn't bother mentioning to Jake that the only reason he hadn't been successful was because I had already become pregnant and our son only seemed to want deer blood. While I hadn't known this at the time I was still grateful for the coincidence. The smell of human blood was normally irresistible to me. It was only though immense self control and staying constantly feed on animal blood that I seemed to be able to resist.

"I tried, as politely as I could, to ask him for some human food, but he denied me that. Even the simplest request of a glass of water was rejected. You'd think, if he wanted me to be more _cooperative_ he would have done that, at least. But whatever sick, twisted mind he had, he basically had a temper tantrum, like a three year old, and refused.

"Besides that, and a couple other angry flare ups," which I thought better than to mention to Jake right now, I'd tell him later, if he asked, but I hoped he didn't, "it was weird. Those first few days, he acted as if we were dating, or something. Trying to get to know me, talking somewhat politely, asking about my family, my favorite books, what movies I'd seen recently; things like that, like he was really interested, like he wanted to get to know me, almost like he actually cared."

I could see how he'd seduced Nahuel's mother, and his sister's mothers, in the past. He was very charming, completely false, but somewhat believable if you didn't know what to look for, when it served his purpose. I answered his questions but after four days, and getting nowhere, with me, which I made completely evident, in my tone of voice, and refusals to even acknowledge him at times, his kind façade started to drop. He was well aware of my fertility deadline, and was growing impatient.

"Jake I never fell in love with him, I couldn't even tolerate him." I wanted to make that point perfectly clear before I continued.

"He told me he hadn't really even considered me until the Volturi forbad the making of any new half-Vampires. He was working on a loophole in the Volturi's new rule. Apparently they never expressly forbid a Vampire, half-Vampire creation."

The next words were hard for me to get out. I'd been looking into Jacob's eyes this entire time and now I just had to look away. I couldn't say the next part to his face.

"He threatened to kill you, my Jacob, if I didn't give him what he wanted." Deep breath. "Jake, I couldn't lose you. You mean too much to me. You know that I love you, so much. I agreed to do whatever he wanted, as long as he wouldn't hurt you."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I finally found the courage to look back at Jake, again. I expected to hear him start growling, but instead he had tears in his eyes. I don't even know if he realized he was crying. I have never seen him so sad before. I needed to comfort and reassure him; let him know that everything was okay. I was fine, he was fine. We have a wonderful son. Everything would be good now, if we could just get past this.

"Jake, please don't be so sad. Everything is alright. Nothing happened between Joham and me. I know what you think happened, what my father told everyone he heard - what Joham... what _we_ did. But it's not true. I would never let him touch me like that."

Jake looked confused now. I was expecting that, and even a little of the anger I saw building in him now, even though he was trying to hide it. He thought I was lying to him.

"Edward said he heard yours and Joham's thoughts, when he was running to the warehouse we were being held in. That the two of you," a slight growl finally erupted from his chest, "were _happily_," he growled again, "in the middle of... _things._"

"I know, but that was only because it was what I wanted Joham to think at the time. It was just bad luck, with the timing, that my father approached right then and heard what he did." Not that I didn't want to get rescued, but this misunderstanding was hurting my Jacob. "You know how I was working with you and Zafrina on my gift in the Amazon and how I expanded it to recreate events in your mind. Where things we'd done, and experienced in the past, using my gift, you could truly, really experience them again, to a point where the images were tactile. So much so that the seemed completely real, that you didn't know you weren't really doing, touching, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling what I showed you."

"Are you trying to tell me that you put false images into Joham's mind, of the two of you being intimate, in bed, _together_?"

I just nodded.

"Nessie, how is that possible?" he asked in disbelief. "You tried to make up images many times with me over the weeks in the Amazon, you can't... you weren't able to put anything that never really happened into my mind."

"I didn't," I confessed. This is what I didn't want to tell him. I hope he wasn't going to be too upset but I knew it would be better than him thinking I'd slept with Joham. "I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I took some of our memories, our special nights together Jake, and change some of the details, so that he thought it was him and I together.

"You know I have always been able to show people my memories and alter details," I reminded him. "Remember when we went to Sam and Emily's wedding, and I showed my family a replay, changing the hideous dress Aunt Alice had made me wear, to the one, you got me from your sister's closet. I'd hoped it would work the same way and thankfully it did. I turned the image of you into him, our bedroom into the one he made for me in the warehouse, switched the clothes, and a few other small details, but kept the touch, my smell, the flavors, all the same. I needed to make it as believable as possible for him. I wasn't sure changing the memories were going to work on Joham, combined with my new tactile projections.

"It took immense concentration on my part; I couldn't lose focus or let anything slip. I knew that if my mind wandered for even a fraction of a second, the illusion would be ruined and he would know. It was exhausting, but I had to try." Because the alternative was too disgusting to even think about. "And thankfully it worked. He never realized we were not actually together. The most I did was touch his hand while I sent him the images."

And then just to give Jake some proof I used my newfound gift and sent him some tactile image recreations of him and I flying kites like we'd done in the past, but then changed it so I morphed into a kite flying clown/ballerina complete with clown makeup and purple tutu and he changed into his Wolf form, but was still up on two legs, and was pink colored instead of his normal russet fur, still flying his kite, but then the kite morphed into our son, flying through the air on a cloud.

He started chuckling while he raised his arms, as if he was really flying our son/kite for a second, before I dropped his hand, ending the tactile projection. Once he saw what I was able to do... what I'd done, and thereby _not_ done, with Joham, he breathed a sigh of relief and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, thank god," I heard him mumble under his breath.

"I'm sorry," he continued now, talking directly to me. "I should have never believed you would willingly be with that monster, but when I heard that Edward had heard it in your mind -"

"I'm sorry too. Even if what we did together wasn't real for me, it was for Joham, in a way. He saw... um, things, felt... things..." Yuck, even thinking about it now I still felt dirty. "I ruined our memories. That was why I didn't want to tell you right away. I know my father had the wrong idea about what happened, but I couldn't bring myself to admit that I destroyed our happy memories. I tarnished them, ruined them, us."

"No you didn't honey. You saved them and yourself. While I'm not happy that Joham saw you... like that, it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative. And now we can make some new memories, right?"

"Absolutely. And I hope this puts away any confusion, any doubt you have or will ever have in the future. Just like you, I'll never be with anyone else. No matter what. If my tactile mind projection idea didn't work on Joham I would have found some other way -" I couldn't finish that sentence.

Thankfully Jake understood. "So, we have a son." He smirked at me, changing the subject to a much happier one.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "You wouldn't have any ideas for names would you? We can't keep referring to him as 'our son' and 'the baby' forever."

"Hmmm, maybe we should get one of those baby name books."

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Even though Nessie looked like she was doing better, she was still bedridden, and probably would be for a few more weeks, according to the Doc, but she was healing. Mentally, Nessie also seemed fine. I'd been worried how our ordeal was going to affect her, but she was strong, and Jasper had talked to her extensively while I took care of our son; he assured me that she would be fine.

We were able to move her back into our bedroom which made her happy, and I was glad that we could share a bed again. Not that we would be able to be intimate any time soon, but it just made me feel good to be able to hold her as she slept.

And it was nice having our son so close to us, in my old room, right next to ours. I could tell he loved his room. It was green and blue, with an airplane theme. The family had finished it quickly and did their best to air it out. While he was currently napping, he wasn't in there now. I managed to get him to sleep after a long morning running in the woods, and he fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the house. Since he seemed to have an instinctual fear of Vampires, the only time the family was able to be around him was when he was asleep, so I'd brought him over to the Doc's house. He should be out for a few hours, at least. Seeing me carry him in they all immediately dropped whatever they were doing, and followed me over, just to watch him sleep.

While he slept I'd taken the opportunity to do a few things.

I asked Carlisle if he'd kept the test that he used, when he had drawn Nessie's blood, to determine if she was pregnant. I was looking for a little memento. But he informed me that it wasn't a typical pregnancy test, like the stick kind you get at a store. There was nothing for him to give me. I was disappointed. I wanted something to put in the memory box my father had given me when I first moved in with the Cullen's.

But Carlisle was able to give me something else - a photo of my son, that someone had taken just after he was born, and another just after he phased back for the first time, when I held him in my arms.

As I opened the lid, I looked at the box that contained so many things that were precious to me, and added these symbols of the latest precious gift that had been added to my life.

Then I saw it, a tiny box inside, tucked into the corner. If there was ever a time that Nessie would want something like this, it would have been now. But she wouldn't. I knew that. And I didn't need it either. She always said she didn't want to, didn't need to, but would her feelings change, someday? Should I keep it just in case?

I picked up the small box, rolled it around in my hands a couple times, opened the lid, closed it, and opened it again.

Would we ever really need something like this? Would it change anything between us? Was there any way that we could be closer than we are now?

No, of course not. I was just being ridiculous. She loved me; she was my soulmate. Nessie's proven to me, over and over again, how much she loves me.

And if this past horrific experience, with Joham, has taught me anything, it's that there's nothing that can ever separate Nessie and me. We didn't need a stupid ring, or ceremony, or anything more to tie us together. There was nothing that could tie us closer than we already were.

Us getting married was just something we would do to make everybody else happy. I knew my father, and Edward, wanted us to be, but it wasn't something you did for other people and I didn't want to make Nessie unhappy by forcing her to do something she didn't want to do.

As I continued to turn the tiny box over and over in my hand, opening the lid, closing it, opening it again, staring at the ring, I knew that I would never have any need for it. Perhaps my son would. Maybe someday he could put it to good use. I think that would make Billy happy to know that someday someone would wear my mother's ring again.

After putting everything back into the Memory box, and placing that box back onto the highest self in our closet, I went to check on Nessie. Having just put our son down for a nap, I could actually spend some time with my soulmate.

As I stepped back through the door that separated our massive closet and our bedroom I saw that Nahuel was in there talking to Nessie. Damn soundproofed walls!

Why was he here? And why did she look pissed?

"So you've decided to take your lapdog back I see." He said spotting me as I entered the room. "Where have you been?" he spat at me. "Don't you care about Renesmee anymore? You've barely spent any time with her since you came back." I couldn't argue with him about that, The only time I got to see Nessie, since she gave birth, was when our son was sleeping; he was terrified of the rest of the family, which meant that when he wasn't sleeping like he was now, I spent out of the house with my son. "Are you through with her now that you got what you were really after?"

"Excuse me?" I growled. Did he have a death wish or something?

"Nahuel, Jake has been doing exactly what he should be doing. And I didn't need to take him back, since I never let him go. He's the perfect man, and Wolf, for me. I love him. And he loves me. He almost died trying to save me."

"Yes, I'm well aware of his failure to protect you. If the situation was different, if you had picked me, I would have kept you safe, Renesmee."

A slight growl emanated from me again, but I said and did nothing... yet. I wanted to hear him out, let him dig his own grave. I knew nothing this jerk was going to say would change Nessie's mind. She loved me just as much as I loved her, and nothing Nahuel said or did was going to change that. It was the only thing keeping me from ripping his head off at the moment. But I also didn't think my temporary composed demeanor was going to last long.

I must have been wrong about all of those apologetic looks I thought Nahuel was giving me, last year, for him trying to take Nessie away. Clearly he hadn't been trying to apologize, with his eyes, like I thought. I wonder if he'd been just waiting, plotting for his time to try to sneak in and snatch her away from me.

"There is nothing to talk about, Nahuel. Jake and I Love each other, completely. We are together and always will be. He's my life. And we are a family, now more than ever."

"Yes, I see that the child turned out to be _his," _Nahuel seethed, eyeing me, "but that does not mean that you have to stay with the dog. You need to know that you have other options. I would be willing to help you raise your little mutt, if you would be with m -"

Before he even finished his insane thought I tackled Nahuel to the ground, and was able to get in a few punches before I was pulled off of him. Emmett and Jasper dragged Nahuel out, to who knows where, to do who knows what while Rose, Carlisle and Bella, refused to let me go until they managed to talk me out of going after them.

If they had only appeared another minute or two later, before bursting in on us, Nahuel would have been a goner. But Bella had said something that made me think that Edward had been nice enough to wait until I got in a few good swipes, to send the family over, while he stayed with our son. I think he would have been helping me, if he came over himself.

As it was I only had time to minorly harm Nahuel. But he deserved worse, much worse. Instead he was put under twenty-four hour surveillance by Edward, as he and the rest of the family tried to reason with him. Ha! Like that was even possible.

Nessie picked me, we belonged together. Why couldn't he see that?

I think it was time for him to leave. I understood the reasoning for him to stay before, when his father appeared to pose a risk to him, but now, thanks to my angel, Joham was no more. There really was no reason not to throw Nahuel out.

Right?

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading. Please review


	5. Missing Everything

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Five**

**Missing Everything**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Before calling the family back in Washington I decided to give myself a day to calm down, after my confrontation with Nahuel. I wanted to be stress free and in a good mood when I shared the happy news. It took some work, texting and calling, but I managed to get Billy, Sue, and Charlie all together on one Skype call.

"Hey guys, so glad you all could make it, I'd like you all to meet -" Wait, where'd he go? "Sorry. He was right here. Hold on." Out of the corner of my eye I saw him scamp across the room. "Come here, please," I called and he ran into my lap. I was a bit worried he was going to put up a fight but he was actually behaving himself... pretty much.

"I don't get it." Charlie looked rightly confused. "You had us all gather around the computer on another one of these video calls to let us know you got a dog? Couldn't you've just texted that?"

"That's not a dog. It's a Wolf pup," Billy explained, wide eyed himself, while I smirked at my father's keen observation.

"I'd like you all to meet my son, David. Sorry he's a bit nervous. I'm sure he'll Phase back when he calms down in a minute." Nessie and I had finally picked out a name for him, well a first name at least.

"I'm a Grandfather?" Billy finally smiled after getting over the initial shock.

"Yup. What do you think, can he call you Gramps?"

"Sounds good to me," he smirked through the screen.

David started giving him a happy yelp, too. "I think that's a 'yes' for both of you," I chuckled.

"He kinda looks like you."

My father was right. David had almost the same russet colored fur my Wolf had, just a touch lighter, and he had a small patch of white on the top of his head.

"So, who's the lucky lady?" Charlie asked, with a mixture of skepticism and anger.

Was he kidding? He knew I Imprinted on Nessie, and all that that entailed. I hoped it was just that he was in shock still.

"Renesmee, of course," Sue answered for me.

"But I just did one of these Skype calls with her, both of you, while you were on vacation, three weeks ago. She wasn't pregnant." But as he was saying this I could see him figuring some of it out in his head. He knew I was a Wolf and that Nessie was half-Vampire, who grew incredibly fast. I'm sure that whatever explanation he came up with was close enough to the truth, for now, that I wouldn't have to get into all of the exact details now.

Suddenly Davie phased back, while still on my lap, waving and saying "hi" to the three of them.

"Hey there, little guy. You're bigger than I expected." Renewed confusion shown on Charlie's face. "How old are ya, kid?"

"I'm four days old, how old are you?" he replied. He looked like a one year old already, but could easily speak clearer and more fluently than a ten year old. Just like with Nessie, no one had to teach him, he just picked it up all on his own, and faster than his mother even had.

"I'm… um, forty… s-seven," Charlie answered, stuttering over his words.

"Wow! Daddy, will I look like that when I'm forty-seven days old?" my son innocently asked me, but it felt like a punch in the gut. We had no way of knowing if David's rapid growth would slow down, speed up, or stop altogether when he reached a certain age. Nahuel had told us that Nessie will stop aging next year when she turns seven, but there was no one like David we could turn to for answers.

"I don't know Davie, we'll have to wait and see." I didn't want to scare him, but didn't think lying would help him either.

"Huh, I'm way too young to be a Great-Grandfather," Charlie huffed and shook his head, probably still too much in a daze himself to really begin to ponder David's possible miniscule life expectancy. "So... um, where's my granddaughter?" I knew Charlie wasn't big on talking, especially for heavy subjects and was looking for anything else to talk about now.

"She's in bed, still recovering." It was hard, trying not to cringe as I spoke, not wanting to get into too many details. No need worrying them for nothing.

"Daddy, I'm thirsty," David interrupted the conversation, tugging on my arm, to get my attention.

"Alright, just let me finish talking to everybody."

"Can't you talk to them next week when you see them in person?" he asked me, a little hint of a whine seeping into his voice.

"What are you talking about Davie?"

"We're coming for Nessie's birthday party. I know having a new baby is a lot of work, son, but did you forget?" Billy asked me.

Nessie's birthday? Wait, what day was it? I'd completely lost track of time with everything that had happened these past few weeks. But how could I have forgotten? I guess I had a good reason this time, but still there was no excuse for it really.

"Did Alice talk to you about the party?" I asked David.

"No," he scowled. "That bloodsucker didn't tell me anything. It was Aunt Leah."

"You can't call your family bloodsuckers. Where did you even heard that term from?"

"Aunt Leah was thinking about it, just now, when we were both Wolves. She doesn't want to have to come here for the party either. She thinks they stink just as bad as I do."

"The little tyke doesn't like your in-laws, I see," Charlie gathered, slightly amused.

"Err, nope. His Wolf side seems to have been born with a natural prejudice against Vampires. I'm working on it with him though. We'll turn things around." I answered Charlie before turning back to David, "You know your mother is half-Vampire right?

"Yeah, but she's nothing like them. She's warm, and her eyes aren't that funny color, and she sleeps, and everything's just different about her. She's just like us. Not frozen like them."

"We'll talk about this later." I can see that I'm going to have to have a little _chat_ with Leah.

"Fine. Are we going hunting now?" he whined again.

Holding up my index finger, "One minute," I assured him,

"So the little guy hunts?", "Hunting? Like a Vampire?" Charlie and Billy asked me almost simultaneously.

"Yeah. Don't worry, just animals," I replied. It was a little strange. He didn't like his Vampire relatives, but drank blood, even if he only seemed to like the taste of non meat-eating animal's blood, currently. But he was only four days old. His tastes could change. I was still holding out hope, trying to get him to eat some human food.

After finding out when the party was I quickly ended the Skype call with everybody, telling them I'd talk to them on Sunday when I saw them in person. I needed to take my son out hunting... again. His appetite was insatiable right now, which made sense with the rate he was growing. Would they even recognize him when they showed up here in six days? He might look like a teenager by then.

"Alright, let's go find Bambi." I said as I picked him up and carried him outside before he leapt out of my arms and phased before even hitting the ground. It's not like I could say _No_ to him, for anything. If he continued at the rate he was aging he would be an old man before he'd even had a chance to really live. What could I do but say _Yes_ to whenever he wanted. Especially if he only had two or three years before... No! That wasn't going to happen. We would figure out what was going on and do something about it, even if that meant... changing him.

I didn't even know if that was possible or not. Could you change a Quarter-Vampire into a Full-Vampire? And what would he think of me if we did that to him? He hated Vampires, but if it was between him dying before his third birthday and changing him, then I would do whatever it took, if it was even possible.

But that just brought more questions. More unknowns. What about the venom? I knew he'd some in his system, but like Nessie, his bite wasn't venomous. It was strange, though. As a Wolf, venom was like poison to me, not that it would kill me by itself, but it would prevent me from healing. I had no clue how the venom could coexist with his Wolf side.

The Doc had tried to run some tests, but David wouldn't let Carlisle get close enough to him to try. David wouldn't even let him take any measurements to check his rate of growth. That, and almost everything else, fell on me, with Carlisle calling out instructions to me from outside the room.

Rose had tried to begin a photo album to document my son's childhood but it was hard with his accelerated growth. She was doing the best she could, without getting too close to him. There was disappointment in her eyes from not being able to hold him - his fear, almost to the point of hatred of Vampires making it impossible. She'd settled on buying the newest, best, most advanced telephoto lens for her camera so even if she had to take pictures of him from yards away they would appear close up when printed.

After David and I returned from hunting I put him down for a nap and turned my attention to Nessie's birthday. I couldn't believe I'd missed another one. How could I have not even known what day it was? On the Skype call Billy mentioned that today was September 17th. Counting backwards four days meant that Nessie delivered our son on the 13th; I had taken off the day before that, which meant we woke up in Carlisle's office after being rescued and found out she was pregnant on her birthday.

I quickly tracked down Nessie to apologize. Still being confined to her bed, made it pretty easy. "How are you doing sweetheart?" I asked as I entered our bedroom. She didn't look comfortable and I knew she had to be in pain, but Carlisle had already maxed her out on painkillers. "Is there anything I can get you?" Judging by the smell of the room I could tell that Bella must have just left, but I asked anyway.

"No, I… OW," she grabbed her side as she tried to sit up.

"Here, let me," I said as I rushed over and gently propped her up.

"Thanks, where's David?"

"Sleeping. I took him hunting, and he started getting tired on the way back. He fell asleep in my arms, with the cutest smile on his face, a mile away from the house."

"Hmmm, fed and happy, just like his daddy," she smirked at me.

"Yeah," I agreed. "So you know how before we went hunting I talked to Billy, Sue, and Charlie and introduced David to them?" Of course she did, Nessie never forgot anything; I don't even know why I bothered to ask. Probably nerves from what I was about to say. "Well they mentioned coming here next week for your birthday party." I paused there, waiting for her to say something, or do something. I wasn't sure what, but when she didn't I continued. "I'm sorry I didn't say it before… on the actual day but… Happy Birthday. I'm so sorry I-"

"Jake, its okay," she cut me off, probably seeing the shame on my face. "There was a lot going on that day. I hadn't even realized it was my birthday until it had already passed. It doesn't matter; there were more important things to think about."

She may say she did not care, but I did. What was more important than the day that this magnificent creature was born?

And I missed it.

Again!

The last time being her third birthday when we had to be away from the family for Embry's court hearing. At least then we were able to have somewhat of a celebratory birthday dinner with my father and Pack. But this year I hadn't even realized the date had come and gone.

Damn-it!

What was wrong with me?

I needed to make up for so much. I'd gotten Nessie kidnapped, almost raped, left her during the delivery of our son, didn't believe her when she told me she wasn't unfaithful with our abductor, not to mention a million other things, not least of all my drunken night in Rio.

I was the worst Imprinter ever!

This birthday needed to be spectacular. The present I'd prepared to give Nessie, before we'd gone to Isle Esme didn't seem appropriate now, so I decided to save it for a later time. Luckily, in a small way, since I was spending so much time with our son (and away from Nessie) I would have time to make her a new gift.

I loved my son but the only time I got a moment alone with Nessie was times like now, when he went to sleep, which the Cullen's loved because it was the only time they got to spend some time with him. But if he happened to wake up, and I wasn't there he would through a fit. I hadn't made as much progress as I'd hoped getting him to accept his family. Yet.

Trying to get Leah on board was also not easy. David had never even met her in person yet, but seems to have had enough conversations with her while they were both phased that he'd picked up, not only a ton of bad vocabulary – calling the Cullen's leeches, bloodsuckers, and a whole list of other derogatory names, but a warped sense of their principles and morals.

I phased, after David had gone to sleep for the night, to talk to her. She'd agreed to this meeting when I'd texted her earlier in the day, even without knowing what I wanted to talk about.

_Leah thanks for meeting me._ We had a scheduled time to both be phased each week together to catch up, but with Nessie's and my trip to Isle Esme and the whole Joham abduction it had been over a month since the last one.

_Yeah, let's just get this over with, I have things to do. _ Same old pissy Leah, but she seemed to be guarding her thoughts extra tightly tonight. I guess she knew why I wanted to talk after all.

_No I don't!_

_Really? _I pressed. _ Leeches, Bloodsuckers, Cold Undead Monsters. Any of those names ring a bell?_

_What of it? _She balked, not even seeming to care.

_You can't think like that around my son._

_Why not? It's the truth, _she growled in her mind to me.

_Leah I have never given an Alpha order to you or anyone else. Do not make me do it now. You need to stop poisoning David's mind against the Cullens. _

_Hey, it's not like I'm trying to do that intentionally. I can't help the way I think. _

_I know, _she had a point, _but could you at least try not to intentionally use certain words when the two of you are both phased?_

She promised to try and that was really all I could ask, well that, and try to be in my Wolf form whenever David was, for the time being at least. Not that I didn't trust Leah, but a person couldn't always help their thoughts.

Alice was planning Nessie's party so I knew it would be amazing. I would expect nothing less from the little pixie. Normally we'd plan it together but I was too busy taking care of my son, so Alice ended up arranging everything. I was going to owe her big time and knowing Alice she would be collecting – eventually. Eternity offered a lot of opportunity to repay debts, which she was well aware.

Nessie seemed to still be in too much pain to have her birthday party so soon but Alice said she saw that she would be recovered enough to be able to attend her own party. I disagreed. She hadn't healed enough to be able to walk around. At most she was barely able to sit up and interact with everyone, but even then would be in pain.

Carlisle suggested she feed daily to help her heal more quickly. Since she was still bedridden, her family was left to track and retrieve enough fresh animals to bring to her room.

"Why don't we wait a week or two, until Nessie has recovered more," I'd asked Alice when I saw Nessie struggle to sit up a couple of days later, but Ness heard us and agreed with Alice that the party should go on as planned. I didn't know if she thought she'd heal faster now with all the extra blood, wanted to get it over with, or was thinking of whoever Alice had invited to this thing having to change their plans. Either way I was outvoted.

On the day of her party I could tell she was still in pain, however much she tried to hide it. Nessie needed to stay sitting down so Alice, being Alice, found the perfect prop. She'd set up a throne, of sorts, in the middle of the Doc and Esme's living room for Nessie. With her being the birthday girl, it didn't look too strange, and it made her the center of attention, not that she wouldn't have been anyway.

Two hours later the party was in full swing. Nessie was currently chatting with Charlie, Sue, and Billy. I know Nessie missed seeing them as much as I did. Alice had flown them here, first class, a new experience for them, that they all loved, as I overheard them mention again and again.

But where was my Pack? Okay. So I really didn't have a Pack anymore. Sort of. I still had Leah as my second. And Seth, but he had given up his Wolf. And technically Embry, but he was still in Texas so I didn't expect him to be here.

The party had started over an hour ago. Where were Leah and Seth? They promised me they would be here.

Where were they?

I didn't _need_ them here, but I _wanted_ them here, for Nessie. And Sue would want to see her children.

"Are you having fun?" Nessie asked me after I'd made my way back to her side, after quickly checking on David. Jennifer had agreed to watch him for us. There were a lot of humans Alice had invited to Nessie's party and her control wasn't great yet.

Alice had invited everyone, in every single one of our classes at Dartmouth. Not everyone came, of course. Some of our lecture classes were comprised of over a hundred students each, many of whom we didn't even know their names. I had no idea how Alice had found them out, let alone their addresses or phone numbers to invite them to this party. Not to mention that we'd pretty much put college on hold for the time being. It technically started two weeks ago, but we had no plans of returning, this semester at least. None of the Cullen's had gone back yet, either.

_Vegetarianism_ was harder than Jennifer thought it would be and we all thought it was best for her to stay away from the humans, so no accidents occurred. She agreed and was the one to offer to watch David, assuring us that his mix of Vampire and Wolf aroma meant he didn't smell like food to her. She was more than happy to spend the evening playing with our son. The more I go to know her the more I was coming to like her.

She had genuinely appeared to have taken a liking to David and he seemed to enjoy being around her as well. After what Nahuel had said to Nessie about David being a mutt I had my doubts but she didn't seem to share her brothers prejudices and they got along really well. And it didn't look as if David had a problem with her smell anymore than with Nessie's.

It turned out to be nice having Jennifer here at least. She even offered to hang out with David in the future for an hour or two whenever needed, if I wanted to spend some time with Nessie.

Nahuel was another matter. He was still hanging around, though I wasn't sure why. Hopefully he and his sister were just staying through Nessie's birthday party and would then leave… for good.

I thought I'd made my point pretty clear to Edward, about Nahuel needing to not be here anymore. I thought he agreed with me. I wanted him gone; every day he stayed around meant the potential for another incident between him and Nessie. Not only hadn't he left, but here he was, at Nessie's party.

She saw him come in sometime after me, but hadn't said anything, so for her, neither would I. "Nessie, it's your birthday. You're the one who is supposed to be having fun. Not me."

"I know, but you did all of this for me and I wanted to make sure you were enjoying yourself as well."

"I honestly didn't do anything. Alice took care -" I started to explain but didn't finish my sentence, because out of the corner of my eye I saw that Seth and Carol had arrived.

Good, I was glad they were here. I wanted us all to slip out at some point and introduce them, Billy, Sue, and Charlie, in person, to David.

But their arrival wasn't what had stopped me. It was Leah, she entered right behind Seth and Carol. I saw as her eyes had scanned the room and locked onto Nahuel's. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Or he, her.

That look on her face... had she just Imprinted? On him? I couldn't believe it. Please no.

Well, at least if she did, he would get over my Nessie. But this couldn't be the first time she'd seen him. Could it? No, she was there when he testified before the Volturi to help save Nessie, but had she seen more than the back of his head back then?

I just watched as she walked slowly across the room. Her eyes never leaving his, stopping just in front of him, she smiled and... punched him square in the face.

Ha! Nope. I guess she hadn't Imprinted.

* * *

A.N. Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.

Want to know the story behind why Leah punched Nahuel? Read all about it in my other story **The Jaguar versus the Wolf**

s/13432489/1/The-Jaguar-Versus-the-Wolf


	6. Goodbye

**The Pink Moon**

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**Year Seven, Chapter Six**

**Goodbye**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

While I wouldn't go so far as to call it _healed_, the last of my gapping stomach wound had _closed_ sometime last night while I slept. Yet my grandfather still insisted on his daily check-up this morning, even though I clearly no longer would need my bandages changed. They were no longer necessary, but here I was in his office, turned makeshift hospital room, with him and my mother and father, for hopefully the last of these check-ups.

"It looks like everything has healed nicely," he remarked as he finished poking and prodding around my abdomen.

I disagreed. While the gaping wound was finally gone, in its place was a huge, nasty, tender, pink scar that ran from three inches above my belly button down to... well all the way down.

"It'll heal," my father assured me.

_Yeah right!_ I rolled my eyes, only so I wouldn't start crying. It would never heal, not completely. Not even Jake's scars disappeared completely. Sure humans can't see them but I could. Which meant Jake would be able to see mine.

He was already avoiding touching me anywhere near my abdomen. At night, while we obviously couldn't resume being intimate yet, he would still hold me… but not like he use to. His big strong arm use to wrap around me, top and bottom, cradling me between my shoulders and hips. Now one arm was under his head and the other barely rested on my thigh.

While the rational part of my brain knew he was just trying not to hurt me, while I recovered, a small part wondered if he saw see me as the same grotesque monster I currently did.

I could see my father about to say something, and I did NOT want to talk about this with him, so to cut him off I blurted out the other question that had been on my mind, "I wonder why I was finally able to get pregnant?" It must have happened that night, shortly before Jake and I were taken by Joham and his daughters. I was beginning to think Wolves and Vampires weren't capable of reproducing with each other.

"It's probably like I said, you just needed to relax honey," my mother suggested. I wish it could be that easy.

"I believe I have another theory," my Grandfather countered. "Actually it's closer to yours, Nessie. Judging by your son's adverse reaction to us, even as he was exiting the womb, and his ensuant instinctive mistrust and hatred of us, I believe it might have been impossible for you to have conceived with Jacob, if you remained near the rest of us."

"But how does that make sense? I'm half-Vampire after all. That would mean my son is a quarter Vampire, wouldn't it?"

"We don't know the exact extent, well... division of his genetic make-up. He won't let me get close enough to test his blood."

I know my Grandfather had asked Jake to do it, but David freaked out, fearful of what his Great-Grandfather wanted to do with his blood. I wonder if he would let me draw it. Perhaps if he saw me first take some from Jake first? I no longer craved his blood so there wouldn't be any danger. After that one taste my cravings went away, so it wouldn't cause a problem for me. I'll have to suggest it later.

"He may only have a small part of your Vampire DNA," my Grandfather continued, "the one that's allowing him to grow so quickly, and drink blood. But he does not seem to have a gift, like you or your parents, his skin is not impervious like yours, nor does it shimmer in the sun. He has the same elevated body temperature and heart rate as you and Jacob, but it's impossible to tell which side he inherited that from, possibly both."

"Maybe in a few more weeks he'll calm down enough that you can test him," I think my mother was one of the few in the family that still believed, like I did, that David just needed some time to get use to everyone.

"Nessie when did you do that?" my father asked me, now entering my Grandfather's office, with us.

"Do what dad?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard what you were just thinking. I was unaware that you drank from Jacob."

"You did what?" my mother practically screamed at me.

"Oh," this was embarrassing, "just a few sips. We were stuck on Isle Esme for over a week and couldn't leave when I needed to hunt." I cringed a bit, bracing myself for my father to reveal the entire truth to my mother, but thankfully he kept quiet, so I continued. "It was just to tide me over until the morning when Alice assured us the hurricane would end. That was the only time, I promise. I won't do it again. It was just an emergency fix." Jake was fine and I never drank from him after that one time. Why did my father care? And why had he brought it up in front of my mother and Grandfather?

"I brought it up, Renesmee, because it may be important. It may have been a contributing factor in you finally being able to conceive with Jacob."

Huh. I never thought of that. My father and Grandfather began taking amongst themselves about the possibility of what my drinking Jake's blood might have done to contribute to my getting pregnant. Honestly as intelligent as I am, a lot of what they said went over my head. My mother's too, judging by the look on her face and lack of contribution to the conversation.

I picked up some random bits of what they were saying regarding "missing enzymes present in Jacob's blood that I lacked" and "cell structures might have been reconfigured" but while I understood the words, how they related to each other were still a mystery.

My Grandfather seemed almost upset with himself for not figuring all of it out earlier. Apparently now it was obvious to him that my drinking just a little of Jake's blood was the key to my conceiving.

Jacob and little David, not that he was so little anymore, but they were currently outside running around as Wolves. David hated being inside, what with my family and their too sweet to him, smell. Jake had realized right away that the fresh air would do him good. They spent most of their time out there.

As the days, and weeks drew on David had grown more and more uncomfortable around the family, his family. We barely ever saw them.

Jake would take our son out and they would stay in their Wolf form for hours, sometimes all day, even. Last week David got so worked up, after coming across Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett, when they were hunting, that Jake had to keep him away for three days. He'd called to let me know, but I missed them so much, and I was stuck in bed most of the time as I continued to recover from David's delivery.

I was getting worried about how all of the stress and tension my son felt being around my family was affecting him. And I missed him, and Jake.

A family meeting was called a few days later, when David was asleep so Jake and I could be there as well.

Aunt Alice was the first to talk. Apparently she saw, what those of us she could see, were going to decide, so she thought it best to just jump to the end. "For the good of David we're moving to France in four days," she announced.

"Aunt Alice how is moving going to help my baby?"

"I'm sorry Nessie; I should clarify - you, Jake, and David will not be coming with us. You knew how I saw all of us living in France, but didn't know when or why we moved, or how I didn't see you with us. At the time I just assumed it was because I cannot see you anyway. But now that I know why we're going, to give David a chance to grow up unencumbered, everything is falling into place."

"But you can't leave me," I said looking at my parents. "I need you. What am I going to do without you?"

My mother wrapped me in a hug. "Nessie this won't be forever." I knew she would be crying with me, if she could.

Looking around the table it seemed that Jake and I the only ones who seemed surprised with Aunt Alice's announcement. Had the rest of them already discussed this move? Seeing as how readily my parents were accepting things, I guessed the answer was yes.

"Renesmee, I've seen you son's thoughts. He's terrified of us. Our staying wouldn't be fair to him," my father sadly offered as an explanation. At least he seemed sad as he broke my heart. How could I live without him and my mother? They've been with me almost every day of my life. And how could they leave us? Or their Grandson?

"David just needs to get to know you. Get used to you. Like Jake did. Right honey?" I asked looking over at Jake. I knew he hadn't exactly been never completely comfortable around my family that first year he lived with us, back in Forks. Not like he was now.

"Nessie, sweetie, you know I can see into David's mind, too. I've tried my best to explain to him how the Cullen's are not a threat, how they love him, and would never hurt him. But it's no good. Maybe when he's older he will understand and can deal with things better. But for right now I agree with them, that their moving is the best thing for David.

"Hey don't worry, little girl," Uncle Emmett said with a smile, clearly trying to cheer me up. "At the rate Davie's going, he'll be an adult in a year or two. Then we'll all be back together."

While my son's growth had slowed considerably from when he was first born, where he aged entire weeks and months every single day, he was still growing incredibly fast, much faster than I ever did.

Would he really be an adult in a year or two? That was it of my son's childhood? I only had four before I looked like an adult, sure I still have one more to go before I stop aging altogether, but David wouldn't even have that. He'd been born just almost a month ago, yet already looked to be somewhere between a five and six year old. It took me an entire year to reach that age physically.

I was so frightened that first week. My parents must have gone through the same thing with me, yet never let on. After David's first week he appeared as big as a two year old. By his second week he gained just under another two years to his appearance. But by then, we at least could start to see his growth slow… a little. By three weeks he'd aged another year and a half. This past week he only added one year to his short life.

"That's another reason for us to leave," my Grandfather offered. "Without us here, your son's growth rate may slow down. Of course it's only a theory, and a long shot at best, but we should give him every opportunity to have as normal a childhood as he can, for as long as he can."

"And all of this stress is not good for him," Uncle Jasper added. How was he dealing with all of this, having to feel all of the hatred and fear coming off of his own grandnephew?

I know what they were saying was true and I felt horrible. No little kid should be terrified all the time. The only time he was relaxed was when he was outside with Jake, and even then Jake informed me that he still partially had his guard up.

Deep down I knew my family's leaving, however temporarily, was best. They had already done everything they could think of to make things easier on David. My parents had moved out of the house they shared with us and into the attic, turned bedroom, at my Grandparents house. Jake and I aired our home out as best we could; none of my family had set foot inside since then, in an effort to not re-infect it with their too sweet Vampire smell. After Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett's hunting incident with David, in the woods, everyone agreed to feed further away. Either Jake or I would wash any new clothes the family bought for David. As much as my family hated it they tried to avoid him as much as possible. But they couldn't stay cooped up in the other houses twenty-four/seven. They needed to leave occasionally to hunt, or shop, or whatnot. But even then, the scent trail they left in the area was too much for David, it seemed.

My poor little boy.

"So October 12th?" That was the last time I would see my family? My parents? For who knows how long?

"It won't be so bad, my darling," my mother tried to comfort me. "We'll Skype every day, multiple times a day if you want. And Nahuel and Jennifer will be staying here with you, in Carlisle and Esme's house, when we leave, so they'll be around if you need any help or just someone to talk to."

"What? They're staying? Why?" Jake was pissed. So was I. What he'd said to me and Jake just after I'd given birth to David was totally uncalled for. I hadn't talked to him since. And if I hadn't been still recovering, if I could have gotten up, and out of bed, to throttle Nahuel myself, back then, I would have. But Jake more than made up for it. He'd managed to punch Nahuel a few times, before my family interceded.

It was strange. My father must have read Nahuel's mind. He would have known how he felt and what he was going to say. But he didn't stop him, or kick him out.

"You knew!" I gasped over to my father. But instead of answering me he just looked down at the floor. Then, as I glanced around the room and saw everybody else's faces, I realized that they all knew. Realization dawned on me. "This was why you didn't let Jacob get in more than a few swipes at Nahuel back then, that's why he's still here, that's why you haven't sent him back to Brazil or turned him into a pile of ash. You knew you were going to have to leave... and you wanted Nahuel to stay. Why?"

"All I care about is your safety Renesmee," my father sighed. "His being here will offer greater protection for you. For all of you."

"We don't need him here," Jake argued. "I can protect Nessie."

But I could see it in my father eyes now, after what happened with Joham, he no longer believed that Jacob was capable of protecting me, which was completely ridiculous. It wasn't Jake's fault what Joham had done. And what were the chances of something like that happening again?

"I know you can, but there's strength in numbers. And it's not just Nessie. You have David now, Jacob. With all of us gone I would feel better with more eyes to watch out for them." My father tried to reassure us that he had managed to convince Nahuel that he and I were never going to happen, and Nahuel should be allowed to stay. "Renesmee, I would never leave him here with you if I didn't trust that we'd finally gotten through to him."

"I concur, darling," Uncle Jasper added. "I have spoken to him daily. We've talked extensively on the matter and I no longer feel the same level of inappropriate emotions radiating off of him. Now the feelings I get are more disappointment, but acceptance. He would like to be your friend." It looked like my Uncles degree in philosophy was being put to good use. And thanks to his gift I knew I could trust him.

Uncle Jasper explained that the main thing was how he just needed to remind Nahuel that Vampires and half-Vampires equally mate for life. My feelings were never going to diminish for Jacob, and they would never transfer to him. He had recalled for Nahuel the story, a memory actually, that my father had long ago seen in Nahuel's mind, back when he first told me about my fertility deadline, about what happened to his eldest sister, Serena. The story she told him of her baby (he never learned if it was a girl or boy) and her mate, the child's father. How she fell in love with and mated with a Vampire. She'd gotten pregnant by him when she was six. Joham, had been overjoyed at the fact that she was fertile. His joy was short lived though, the child died and he eventually discovered how her body had changed, and became frozen so that she was no longer able to reproduce, once she turned seven. There was some confusion as to what happened to her mate, either he had committed suicide or Joham had killed him. While Serena had apparently, slowly, recovered from the loss of her child, she'd never gotten over the loss of her mate. And she also learned to never go against her father again.

Her story reminded me a little of the one I heard my father mention, once, about Marcus, of the Volturi. While I hate them, as a whole, I felt sorta sad for Marcus. He lost his mate, so long ago, and had lived over fifteen hundred years without her. Serena had only existed for two hundred years without her mate. If she'd lived longer, would she have eventually turned into the same empty shell that Marcus had? I knew she had been bitter, and vengeful, and just plain evil, but was that the reason?

What would happen to me, or Jacob, or anyone else in my family, if one of us lost our mates? No! I didn't… couldn't think about that.

The recalling of the story, however sad and tragic as it was, seemed to be enough to convince Nahuel to give up on me. Nahuel already knew all of this, but I think he just needed to hear it, out loud from someone else, to make it real for him. I was sad that the story caused him pain, pain that his sisters were gone, but at least Nahuel was free to move on now. My father seemed pretty sure that Nahuel's feelings for me were not so set that he would be able to get over me in time… "possibly sooner than one would think, given his recent behavior" he mysteriously added under his breath.

It wasn't like we'd ever mated, or even came close, but neither had my father, with my mother, back when they went to highschool together in Forks, Washington. Yet he'd fallen in love with her, so completely, that he may as well have, even back then. He would have never been able to move on from my mother if she hadn't returned his affections. They were truly soulmates, just like Jake and me.

My father gave me a quick wink, picking up on my thoughts as he and Uncle Jasper were currently explaining that in Nahuel's mind, apparently _we_, the entire Cullen clan, were his and Jennifer's family now, even if he was never to be my mate. But since his family (Huilen and Jennifer notwithstanding) were gone, however horrible they were, and the Cullen's had taken them in, they had, in a way adopted us.

Jake and I eventually agreed to let Nahuel and Jennifer stay after hearing everything. Knowing how much Jake couldn't stand Nahuel I thought it would have been harder to convince him but it seemed everything my father said finally convinced Jake. And I know that even thought he hated to admit it, but he probably agreed with the family that it was a good idea to have the extra protection around once everyone was gone. My safety went a long way with Jake.

I would have mentioned that I was more than capable of protecting myself, but I didn't think Jake's ego could handle that at the moment.

It was an uneasy agreement, but he was going along with it, for the good and safety of me and our son.

And David had taken a liking to Nahuel and Jennifer, which I think was another reason Jake had given in to the decision, provided Nahuel stay away from me, if no one else was around.

Maybe the move wouldn't be so bad; like Uncle Emmett said, I could handle a couple of years without them. Jake and I'd gone away for three months and I was fine, time would fly by. We would use the time to teach David that my family was wonderful and nothing to be scared of. I was sure that as he aged and matured he would come to see them as Jake had. He just needed some time.

"And Seth and Leah are close by as well," my father reminded us. "I was thinking they might like to visit you more often. I know Leah doesn't care for us, but once we're gone, it might be nice for you to see more of each other."

_Visit? _Yeah right. _You mean babysit, _I thought over to my father. The idea of Jake needing to be taken care of by his own Pack wouldn't go over well with him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, it would be nice to see them more," Jake agreed, not catching on to what my father had implied.

That was going to be interesting. Would Leah even come? I mean rescuing us and then checking in once afterwards was one thing. Jake hadn't ordered her, but he almost had to, just to get her to come back here for my birthday party.

While Leah never really bonded with me, she hated Nahuel. I'd thought that those two might actually make a good couple, but she couldn't stand him. She'd never even met him before when she punched him at my party. She must have seen enough in Jake's mind to form a negative opinion of him and had no qualms about hurting him, since he had hurt her Alpha… at least that was Jake told me he assumed when I asked him about what happened.

I hoped that since Nahuel and David had bonded, and my family assured me that Nahuel had finally seen that he wasn't going to be able to worm his way in between Jake and me, the reason for their animosity toward each other would be gone, and they might become friends.

After Leah and Nahuel's fight, if you could even call it that, they had agreed to stay away from each other if they couldn't avoid any more violence. Jake assured me that he'd talked to Leah, and she wouldn't attack him again, at least not until provoked. But Leah didn't seem like the type to drop things easily. Hopefully those two could grow to tolerate, if not like each other someday, too.

* * *

Before my family left everyone planned to spend some special one-on-one time with me. Jake too. They were going to miss him just as much. And he them. They had become his family over the years, too.

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" I asked Jake after spending the afternoon with my Grandfather. We'd spent hours going over the first aid and medical equipment he had at the house, including everything he knew about Jake's Wolf side and showed me, as best he could, how I could treat him, and David, if the need ever arose, along with some special medicines he'd developed for Jake, that would work with his Wolf chemistry.

"I'm not sure exactly. But nothing I would consider fun," he winced. "I'm scheduled to hang out with Alice in the morning."

"Oh, well good luck, and wear comfortable shoes." I just chuckled. She was probably going to take him shopping like she did with me. Apparently it was vitally important that she completely redo my wardrobe and to stock us up on a lifetime's worth of clothes for my son. While I appreciated the clothes for David, I think I would have managed to survive the next two years with the overstuffed closet I already had.

It amazed me that Aunt Alice had been able to wear down my mother over the years and was now her regular shopping partner. I guess it was to be expected. Since Aunt Rose and I'd pretty much claimed all of Jake's free time, and had stolen her best friend from her, she needed someone else to hang out with, other than my father, and they were already friends... it was inevitable. And I think my father appreciated the upgrade to her wardrobe.

Each of the four days, between the time of Aunt Alice's announcement and the day of my family's impending departure for France were spent divided between a different family member; one in the morning, another in the afternoon.

Nahuel and Jennifer had agreed to keep David entertained at their house. Jake and I checked in on them regularly, but this was the last time I was going to have with my family for a while and I wanted to spend some quality time with them before they left.

I spent an entire morning with my father, playing duets of all of our favorite songs and then wrestled with Uncle Emmett in the backyard after lunch.

Everyone's good-byes were perfectly tailored to them, each unique and special, and just what I needed to get through the next couple of years.

But this really wasn't goodbye then, was it? Wasn't it just more like a see you later?

* * *

**A.N.** Hmmm, the Cullens are leaving and Jake is stuck with Nahuel again. What could go wrong?


	7. David

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Seven**

**David**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"Hey Dad," I said as his image appeared on my screen. We Skyped every day so he could see David, but today he looked like he was extra happy, or something. "What's going on?"

"Lots," he smirked. "I've got a surprise for you." Before I could ask what it was I saw Rachel and Paul poke their heads into the screen.

"Hey little brother," my sister cheered, while Paul just grinned like the idiot he was, behind her. What was up with the two of them?

"Hi guys." It was great seeing her even if it was only on the computer; we'd only talked online a few times over the years. She claimed that her son, Jeremy, kept her too busy. Whatever. I hadn't realized I missed her so much. It even made dealing with Paul tolerable. Almost. "How's everything going?"

"We're pregnant, again," they both screeched.

"Really? Congratulat-"

"And it's twins!" they exclaimed, cutting me off, in unison. Had they rehearsed that? There news wasn't completely surprising though, twins ran in my family. Well twin girls anyway.

"That's great guys -" I tried to say again before once again being cut off by Paul.

"Where's my Nephew?"

"Here I am," David exclaimed, running up behind me, trying to push me out of the way. "Dad, I want to talk to Uncle Paul... ALONE." It seems we were going to have to have a talk about manners later. "Pleeeease," he sang after seeing the look I gave him.

It was so hard. He just grew so fast. There was so much to teach him. He'd only been alive for ten weeks, even if he did look like an eleven year old. I guess I couldn't expect him to know everything. Just like Nessie, he absorbed everything he'd been shown and taught, never forgetting anything, and understanding almost everything. But he just had only been exposed to a minuscule amount of things compared to everything that there was we needed to teach him. There were only so many hours of the day though.

We filled his days with book learning, but I think his social interactions were lacking. Neither Nessie or I dared take him out in public yet, while he was still growing so fast, and he hadn't gotten control of his phasing yet, turning into his Wolf not only at will, but also anger, or excitement, or a number of other reasons, too numerous to count.

"Alright," I gave in, "but after this, we're going to have a little chat about manners. I'll be in the library. Come find me when you're done." And with that I kissed him on the top of his head and went to find Nessie.

Half an hour later he joined us and I think my speech about manners sunk in… a little. Maybe. Probably. I'll talk to him again tomorrow.

The next couple of days went well; I realized I was putting too much pressure and expectations on him to be perfect. He was young and immature. He had forever (I hoped). There would be plenty of time to learn everything he needed to. Be he would only be young once.

The next day David and I were horsing around outside as Wolves as Nessie watched from a chair on the porch when Leah called. She wanted to let me know she was coming over... again. I wasn't sure what it was, but she was spending more and more time at our house. Maybe it was like Edward had said, since the Cullen's had left over a month ago the house no longer smelt like Vampires, it wasn't so _offensive_ to her.

I'd gotten so accustomed to all of them over the years that I barely smelled anything anymore and there scents didn't even bother me. When the Cullen's came back from France I was probably going to have to get readjusted to them all over again. But that was fine, it would be worth it.

But why would Leah want to come all the way here just to see me?

We still phased once a week. If she needed to talk to me she could do it then. But we barely spoke when we did. Phasing together was my idea and I knew she didn't want me in her head, but it was like she was keeping it more tightly closed and guarded than usual. Of course I'd practically jumped down her throat for corrupting David's mind against the Cullen's back in September.

Okay, so that wasn't entirely true. David had an inborn hatred for Vampires before he ever saw into Leah's mind and picked up a whole host of derogatory vocabulary to describe them. I should be glad that she was at least trying now to keep her thoughts in check. But this was going completely overboard. She wouldn't share anything with me. I didn't want to push or invade her privacy and pull her thoughts out of her mind. There was no danger lurking anymore, nothing to be on the lookout for. I didn't really need to know what she was thinking or why. If she didn't want to tell me something that was fine.

It was just bugging me. I know she wasn't coming here to see me. Or Nessie. As much as I hoped, she just couldn't bring herself to make friends with my Imprint. Why couldn't she see how wonderful Nessie was?

She didn't want to talk to me. She didn't want to talk to Nessie. I guess she was coming to see David. It must be David.

Just like Rose, Leah had been devastated to learn that she was a "genetic dead end" as she put it, not being able to have children of her own. I'd long ago theorized that she might be able to once she stopped phasing, but she thought differently.

She had no intention of giving up her Wolf. I wasn't sure why exactly but didn't want to press her. I always thought she resented, if not _hated_ being a Wolf; at least she did when she first phased, all those years ago, back in La Push. I wonder if she'd grown to love it as much as I had over the years – the freedom, the speed, the strength, the heightened senses; never getting cold, or sick, or aging, not to mention the super fast healing. What wasn't to love?

So now she was coming here again, probably to see David. She never did this when Nessie was a baby. Before, when she had to be at the Cullen's, while awaiting the arrival of the Volturi, it was almost like a prison sentence for her. She couldn't wait to get away back then. And even in the months after they left she never voluntarily wanted to be around Nessie. If she wanted a child of her own I would have figured she would have been drawn to other babies. But not her, at least not with Nessie.

David wasn't even a baby anymore. What made him so special for her? She hadn't Imprinted on him like Nessie and I had joked/hoped/thought she might. But, negative opinion of the Cullen's aside, it was good that she was around. David could use more people in his life besides Nessie and me. And Jennifer… and even Nahuel.

Yet here she was, or would be any minute now, coming again to see my son. Why? Leah was already coming over for a big dinner tomorrow night.

There would be eight of us in all. Nessie, David, and me; along with Leah, Seth and his Imprint, Carol. She was perfectly relaxed coming here now that the rest of the family had moved to France. And, since they lived next door, we'd also invited Jennifer and Nahuel. As much as I hated to admit it we needed them here tomorrow with us.

Nessie and I were currently in the kitchen doing some prep work for the giant feast we were giving. It didn't seem like a dinner for eight people would require an entire day to prepare but everyone who was coming ate human food. Or at least tried to. And three Wolves could eat a lot. Even Seth, who'd given up his Wolf, still packed it away. I think his metabolism had kicked up again, after phasing in April, to come to my and Nessie's rescue.

Jennifer was still struggling with getting use to human food. I know it didn't taste as great to her as blood, but she was trying. Personally I was just glad she was trying to stop feeding on humans.

Nessie's appetite for carnivore blood had also returned with a vengeance shortly after giving birth. And her repugnance for most human food had reappeared in spades. But she was determined to eat it and like it... eventually, she hoped. She just kept telling me, and herself, that if Nahuel could do it so could she. But this time, at least for the next year anyway, I would make sure she was also drinking animal blood, at least once a week.

Tomorrow's dinner had an ulterior motive, besides just all of us getting together. We wanted to all EAT in front of David. Show a good example and all that.

He saw Nessie, Jennifer, and Nahuel hunt all the time. Hell, he even saw me hunt occasionally, though I would eat and not drink whatever I caught, so it was a little different, but he still didn't see us eating human food as much as I would like.

"Hey Jake, I'm here," I heard Leah call from her car as she pulled up. Although I had opened the front door to let her in she was still by her car, "Where's my favorite little guy?" Lately she'd been rushing inside, but must have caught David's scent heading away from the house.

"He got thirsty so Jennifer and Nahuel took him out earlier to hunt. They should be back soon. Sorry."

I knew that Nahuel wasn't her favorite person in the world. Actually, I believe she was thought worse of him than me and could barely stand him. But Nahuel and his sister had asked to take David hunting this morning and David seemed so excited about it, I couldn't refuse. That and I didn't want to pass up the chance at some alone time with Nessie. And I couldn't dump all of the cooking on her.

"Oh, well, in that case I'll just go phase and look for them. I'm sure they can't be too hard to find," Leah replied, as she took off running, shedding clothes as she dashed through the backyard to the woods.

Wow! Leah must really want to hang out with David more than I thought, that she's willing to put up with Nahuel.

Maybe the same thing was happening to the two of us. Sometimes I felt as if my dislike for Nahuel was waning… slightly. I think I was actually starting to believe him; I was starting to believe that Nahuel was over Nessie. And I'd noticed myself starting to calm down around him. Maybe I should have believed Edward more when he said that they had gotten through to him, and made him realize that he and Nessie were never going to happen. That she loved me, not him, and nothing was going to change that. Ever! Now that I realized Edward was right, that fact, alone, made Nahuel infinitely more tolerable.

Now that we weren't competing over my Imprint, I was beginning to see a whole new side to him. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was actually a nice guy. I would still rip his head off, gladly, if he gave me a reason to, but there was nothing particularly _evil_ about his actions or behavior, currently.

The only thing he was guilty of was loving Nessie, and that was understandable. He clearly had overdone it, but she was wonderful, so I partially understood and could rationalize his behavior, to a point. And now he'd moved on. Well he'd at least moved on from Nessie.

I wonder if there was anyone we could fix him up with?

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

It seemed like my father was right, my stomach had healed and it no longer looked like a giant scarred minefield. I could still see traces of the wound, but barely.

Jacob had seen the difference but hadn't made a move to touch me again. It's been so long and I needed him more than I realized, so last night, after some brief kisses and he went to pull away, I grabbed his arm. "No!" I pleaded. "Keep going. I need you. I want you. You won't hurt me. Please!" He seemed to understand, and a small smile broke out on his face. His kisses were soft and gentle, barely grazing my skin, moving lower and lower with each pass; first my lips, then across my jaw line, and down my neck. The slow pace was excruciatingly yet also stimulating. When he got my scars he started to giving the gentlest butterfly kisses around the edge and I was worried he was going to stop again but then he went even lower and suddenly I had a whole new appreciation for his sloth like pace.

We'd never made love like this before, except for maybe the first time, and that was for different reasons. Once we'd crossed that last barrier, and truly became mates, it was like a switch flipped in Jake's mind and he was all Alpha in bed and in life. I loved his normal enthusiasm, aggression, determination, and speed. Our love making sessions would always last hours, so did last night's; but it was different, he moved slower, careful not to hurt me, but my skin had regained its previous, marble like Vampire hardness. The night was very, very good.

The next morning we woke early and made love again, but since Jake knew I was back in fighting form, so to speak, he didn't hold back this time. I loved his enthusiasm and the physical damage to the room was minimal… only a few things got broken this time.

When David got up, he had grown another two centimeters, and was rightly starving, so Jake volunteered to take him hunting.

After going online to order a new bed frame I more or less absentmindedly wandered up to the music room that still held some of my parent's things. My father had left his journals here, knowing that he would be back soon for them and not wanting to lug them all the way to France. Before he left I asked him if I could read them, but oh my goodness, I didn't realize that they would be this boring.

Some of the events were interesting, but his entries were less of a story, and more of a daily recounting of everything he saw over the days, months, years, and decades, from the time he was changed up until he met my mother - those journals he'd taken with him.

Hmmm. Was there was something in those that he didn't want me to read? Probably.

The ones he left began in 1919, shortly after he was changed. I'm guessing about a year later, I heard that the first year as a newborn was a little chaotic – for everyone except my mother, anyway.

Things were pretty blasé for him in the beginning: His struggles with his thirst, tribulations with trying to control himself, the realization that he could hear thoughts, the slow acceptance of his life as a Vampire… nothing that I wouldn't expect.

1921 saw the addition of my Grandmother to the family. Strange, though my father thought of her as a mother figure back then, they were parading around as brother and sister, to the humans.

Then, as the 1920's rolled on, I found it amusing how he was actually appalled at the change in fashion. He didn't seem to like the short skirts or short hair the ladies began sporting. Page after page he mentioned how seeing a woman's calves shocked and distressed him. You'd think after all he'd heard in peoples' minds, everyone's intimate thoughts, private moments, and just secret in general that a person wouldn't want shared, would have bothered him more. Strange!

Hmmm. The journals from 1927 to 1931 were missing. I searched around the room to see if they had gotten misplaced and found them wedged high atop the farthest corner bookcase.

As I read I was shocked to learn of my father's rebellion at the end of the decade. He never told me he hunted humans. His account of his time back then was shorter than any other point so far. When he returned home my Grandfather had welcomed him back with open arms. I would expect nothing less knowing him, but my father had actually been worried that my Grandparents might not want to have any more to do with him after what he'd done. He didn't elaborate, just grateful to be home. We were going to have a talk when he came home. I wanted more details than he wrote in these journals.

Returning those volumes to the top of the bookcase, I decided to just move on, for now. I wouldn't want anyone else viewing them, especially David.

1933 was rather, um... interesting - my Grandfather had changed Aunt Rose. I already knew the story about what her ex-fiancé had done to her but I couldn't believe my Grandfather actually thought that she and my father... that the two of them might make a good couple. It was almost laughable in its absurdity. I mean I love them both, but could never picture them together. Thank goodness Aunt Rose found Uncle Emmett just two years later. The tone of my father's entries had been getting me worried.

Uncle Emmett's addition to the family was another bump in my father's life; not exactly a low point, just more of an irritation. And it wasn't anything negative he had to say about Uncle Emmett, specifically. My father just heard things in my Aunt and Uncles minds that were, err, disturbing. It got so bad that my Grandfather actually kicked them out of the house. Okay, so he didn't actually kick them out. Grandma Esme built them their own house about ten miles away where they could be as loud and destructive as they wanted with each other.

Yikes! I thought Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett were bad now, what must it have been like back then? Nope, I definitely didn't want to think about that.

That was enough reading for today. I'd lost track of time and had missed lunch, not that I ate that much anyway, coyote was my meal of choice nowadays. But it was almost two in the afternoon anyway, and my family would be calling.

Just like my mother promised the entire family Skyped every day and made sure David did as well. I think we were making progress. At least a little bit. We would have to wait until David was fully grown and my family returned to see how he handled them to really see, but I knew we could get him to come around.

At least he didn't fight us to talk to them online after the first few days, and my family looked for any excuse to get him to engage with him. Jake and I thought that if they could interact with him in a more professional, detached way, and take over some of his education, sort of a 21st century internet classroom, he wouldn't get so upset.

My family agreed and focused on much of the same subjects they had with me. Not everything of course, they just augmented and reinforced what Jake and I were already teaching him, but it gave David a justification for them to talk to him.

Jake had already taught him the Quileute language, and about the legends and histories of the Tribe, which he loved. And just like with me, no one needed to teach David how to read, Jake and I simply read to him every night before bed and then a week later he started reading to us.

He didn't share my mother's and my love of the classics, well no one shared my mother's love of the classics as much as she did. David's interests tended more towards comic books, and then graphic novels, as he grew. I wonder if that was a boy thing. But I didn't care, as long as he was reading. Not that we let him solely read comics, he needed to read two to three actual books every week, but as fast as he read it didn't take him long.

Once he was able to gain some control over his phasing, we made him a deal, for every ten books he read from our library he was rewarded with a trip to the local comic book store. Until then we bought them ourselves and brought them home to him. His favorites were those based on Werewolves, naturally. Yesterday for the first time Jake took him and turned him loose in the store, (not really, he closely watched him the entire time) and we reserved some veto power on his choices. We didn't want him reading anything that demonized Vampires, at least not yet. Perhaps when he was older and realized that our family wasn't his enemy, we would allow him to read them, for fun, not mis-education. He understood comics were just make believe, but I didn't not want them unduly influencing him.

My mother tried getting him interested in English Literature, they would discuss the books he read and I heard her try to relate them to his comics. She even got him to read Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_, with the understanding that they would then both read _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ afterwards.

My father began teaching him French and Music Composition, just like he did me, while I taught him to play the piano.

Uncle Jasper worked with him on History, - both Vampire and human, as well as Psychology and Philosophy, attempting to diminish my sons revulsion for our kind. Sometimes I thought their Skype time felt more like therapy sessions, with Uncle Jasper trying to work out exactly where my son's hatred stemmed from. We all knew it was a genetic predisposition of the Wolves, but Jasper was trying to use Nurture over Nature to override it. Logically it seemed likely to work - over time.

Before my family had left we'd learned that my son did indeed have a gift. Uncle Jasper had never been able to get my son to relax. It seemed he had a shield of his own, weaker, but similar to my mothers. We were not sure exactly what the full extent of his gift was, but we knew one thing - Uncle Jasper couldn't alter his moods. My father could read his mind and I could share images with him, but not my tactile projections and nothing that I made up, or even anything where I tried to alter a single small detail. Aunt Alice couldn't see him either, but that wasn't something we'd expected she would be able to do, since she couldn't see Jake or me.

David's mind could not, or would not, be changed from what he knew to be the truth. It was almost as if his mind was guarded against falsehoods. Nothing unnatural could get in. Not my altered images, or Uncle Jasper's mood altering emotions. It was strange. He could feel what David felt, but not do anything about it. If he could, my families moving might not have been necessary.

And if I was right Zafrina's gift probably wouldn't work on him either. That was too bad, because I loved the worlds she would show me.

Anyway they were gone and we were all doing our best to get through the next few years apart.

Aunt Rosalie loved my son. I was worried she would dislike him as much as she initially had Jake, since he was a Wolf, but my fears were for nothing. She was obsessed with babies and loved him as if he were her own, from the moment my pregnancy was discovered. She was teaching him science over their web chats and planned on moving onto Chemistry and Physics, as he aged, like she did with me. He didn't exactly like the subject but at least he wasn't fighting her on it, like he did with other subjects. I think it was only because he had a little crush on her. It had taken me, and everyone else, by surprise. But I guess it wasn't so unusual, Aunt Rose was extremely beautiful, after all. Uncle Emmett found it hilarious, and would slip in some inappropriate cougar innuendos daily, normally yelled out during Aunt Rose's lessons, which she often responded to with a swift smack to the top of his head. Luckily David never caught on, at least not yet. Everyone else in the family was smart or kind enough not to say a word about it to David. I'm sure he will grow out of it eventually, and didn't think it was even that serious. It was only now, that she was on another continent, and couldn't smell her sweet aroma or touch her icy skin, that his feelings for her had emerged. His crush was harmless, it's not like anything would come of it, and maybe it would help David work through some of his issues with the family.

The Art Appreciation that Grandma Esme tried to teach David wasn't going well, so she shifted focus from paintings and sculptures of antiquity to architecture, which David seemed to enjoy more. He could spend hours building towers, castles, and forts with the model sets we got him. As Grandma Esme suggested we only bought him models of actual, real buildings, that she could then talk with him about – how they were constructed, what materials were used, what innovations had to be made at the time to make the construction possible, including things like domes, arches and flying buttresses. She told me that she was hoping to segue into design, and sneak in some art in there too. Neither Jake nor I saw that happening, but we thought better about trying to dissuade her. Who knows, in a few months or a year, he might be more open to the idea.

Aunt Alice focused on math. I think we finally found a subject he really liked with that one. He was a natural; calculating complex problems in his head easily. Aunt Alice planned to move on to advanced Algebra and Geometry by the month's end. And then Calculus, Trigonometry, and who knows what else after the new year.

Today's Skype lesson was with Grandpa Carlisle. He was teaching him Anatomy and Biology of humans, Vampires and shape-shifters (what little he'd learned from Jake over the years), while Uncle Emmett, since he couldn't very well teach him "Gym", over the computer like he did me, focused on tech stuff. It made sense; he loved television, video games, computer games, stereo equipment and the like. I think David was enjoying learning about all of the mechanics of stuff. He hasn't complained, at least.

Speaking of which I realized Jake and David hadn't returned from hunting yet and my grandfather would be calling in less than a half hour for their lesson.

Taking out my phone I called Jake, hoping he was on two feet and would be able to answer.

I hadn't even made it to the second ring when I heard the front door open. Rushing downstairs I saw Leah come in carrying David in her arms. They were all giggles and smiles.

"It looks like hunting was fun," I said, in lieu of a hello. "Where's everyone else?"

Leah's smile fell. "Jen and her brother went back to the other house," Leah scowled. "And Jake's…" she never got to finish her sentence, since he walked through the door. He looked as annoyed as Leah now did.

"What happened?" It didn't seem like he and Nahuel would ever get along.

Jake gave Leah a look and she quickly whisked David off, to get him cleaned up.

"Leah and Nahuel decided to try and kill each other, in front of David, spatting hateful rhetoric, at and about each other, the entire time."

Oh no! Their Vampire-Wolf rivalry was exactly the opposite of what we were trying to teach David. "What did Leah say that set Nahuel off?"

"Actually I think it was all Leah. Nahuel didn't do anything at first. Actually he almost looked hurt by what she was saying. But she kept pushing and pushing and eventually he pushed back."

I really was beyond caring what those two did to each other, but if something they said upset David, or made him hate his Vampire side even more, then they wouldn't be fighting each other anymore, they'd be too busy recovering after I knocked some sense into the two of them. "Didn't you try to stop them? What were you doing during all of this?"

"Picking Daisies," Jake replied.

Huh?

He rolled his eyes. "Jennifer grabbed David and moved him out of the immediate area, so he wouldn't be in any danger, while I tried to break them up. What else would I be doing?" he huffed.

"Sorry, I just…"

"I know," Jake cut me off, forgiving me for my attitude. "I should have stepped in sooner and gotten Leah to back off. Today was my fault."

"No it wasn't."

"Leah's in my Pack. She's my responsibility."

"And David is our responsibility," I countered. "I should have been there. You've been doing more than your share, looking after our son. I need to step up." I couldn't before when I was recovering, but now that I was healed I needed to be doing more. This wasn't fair to Jake.

We talked a little more about this morning's events until it was time for the Skype call with my family.

A few hours later, once we had all caught up and David's daily schooling was done, Jake called his father. We thought it was best to call Billy and Charlie, just like my family, every single day to connect with David. He grew so fast, we knew the two of them wouldn't want to miss any more of their Grandson and Great-Grandsons childhood than necessary and this was the best we could do since we couldn't move to La Push.

"So how is the little bugger doing?" Billy asked.

"Davie is great," I replied over Jake's shoulder.

"David Black, hmmm, did I ever mention how much I like that name. Nice and strong," he said. I shot Jacob a look that I hoped Billy didn't pick up on.

Our son's name, well his last name, hadn't been discussed, exactly. I hadn't even thought about what his last name should be.

"No dad," Jake replied. "It's David Cullen, just like Nessie, not Black."

Hmmm. I guess Jacob had thought about it.

"What?" Billy seemed shocked.

"Dad, you know that Nessie and I aren't married."

My Grandfather had mentioned that in hospitals babies are always given the mother's last name, on all paperwork including birth certificates, if the parents are not married. But I was doubtful that Jacob knew of this practice, but then again, maybe he did.

Billy shook his head. "Then I guess this is the end of the Black line. Paul and Rachel's boy is a Lahote, even if they didn't get married yet, either. At least they're engaged," he huffed.

I thought they had named their son Jeremy Black-Lahote. Wasn't that enough? I guess the hyphenated last name didn't count in Billy's mind.

The look on Billy's face was so full of sadness. I knew how Billy felt that Jacob would not continue being a Black sometime in the future. His less-than-pleasant reaction to Jacob's "Wolfe" IDs, back during my third/fifteenth birthday dinner, after Embry's court hearing, saddened me then, just as much as it still does now.

Right then and there I made a decision. I half expected my phone to light up and start ringing, or vibrating, or something. But Aunt Alice couldn't see me or what I decided. Which was good because I needed to talk to Jacob first anyway. "But we will be," I blurted out. Jacob seemed confused, of course. I'd always told him how I just didn't see the point behind marriage. But now I had a reason. _That is, if you want to, _I hesitantly added with my gift to Jake. _ But I think it would be best if we waited a year or two until David is grown and my family is able to attend the ceremony. _

"Um, dad? Can we call you back?" Jake said to his father while giving me a strange look.

"Err... sure, no problem, son," Billy mumbled as he disappeared off the screen.

"Nessie, do you really want to get married?" he gently asked, while fingering the promise bracelet he'd made me for my first Christmas. Years ago he'd told me it was representative of his promise to always protect me, but I knew it meant something more. That it was a signification of his promise to someday marry me. Did he still feel that way? He'd never brought it up, not since the day I had it out with my father that I never wanted to get married. "You know, we don't have to just because we have David, right?" he continued. "It's not like it's the 1800s. No one is going to judge you for being an unwed mother, if that's what you're worried about. And we shouldn't get married just because you think it's what my father wants."

"Jacob, would our getting married make you happy?" Before he could answer I quickly added, "Don't tell me what you think I want to hear, tell me what you want. Please."

He looked directly into my eyes, and I knew the next words out of his mouth would be the complete truth. "I'm already happy, Nessie. I don't need a ceremony. I just need you, and for you to be happy."

"Are you one hundred percent sure?"

"More than anything," he smiled.

"Good because I am, too. But let's do something to make Billy happy as well."

"Nessie, we don't have to -"

"No, I know. But we can still give our son your last name."

"Really? You would be okay with that?"

"Of course, honey," I smirked. I love Jake, and Billy, and would do anything to make them happy. And what difference did a last name make.

"So should we call him up and tell him now or surprise him with the good news when he gets here for Christmas?"

Hmmm? Nine days. Was that enough time?

It would have to be. No matter the cost.

* * *

**A.N. ** There is a growth chart, of sorts to my profile page that shows how I worked out how Nessie and David grow and age over the Months and Years. Please let me know if you think this is helpful, confusing, uninteresting, etc...

I know this chapter is kinda a filler chapter but please review anyway.

Thanks for reading.


	8. Christmas and Embry

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Eight**

**Christmas and Embry**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Christmas seemed bittersweet this year. It shouldn't though. I had Nessie and David here with me.

But the rest of the family – Bella, Edward, Rose, Emmett, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and Jasper, were still in France. Even though we Skyped with them and sent pictures of David, every day, the holidays just didn't feel the same without the entire family together. The Cullens had become my family, over the past seven years, and it didn't seem right celebrating the holidays without them.

And as bad as it was for me, I knew it was much harder for Nessie. I just had to make sure this Christmas was extra special for her.

It's not like the house was empty. Nessie's parents had sent Charlie and Sue, Billy, Rachel, Paul and Jeremy all plane tickets so they could come to New Hampshire, to celebrate the holiday season with us, this year. And Seth and Carol, and Leah, along with Nahuel and Jennifer would be joining us as well.

I don't know how Rachel had convinced Paul to come, but they arrived yesterday, along with everyone else from La Push. Paul had been a little apprehensive, not wanting Rachel traveling in her condition, but she was only five months pregnant, it was perfectly safe for her to fly. There was Jeremy to think about, though. Their son was an un-phased boy who would be around Nessie, Nahuel, and Jennifer, and their Half-Vampire sides. Not to mention David's roughly one quarter Vampire side.

No one really wanted their children to phase, in a way. I mean it was cool being a Wolf and everything that entailed, but it was also a lot of responsibility, at the same time. But I don't think Paul really didn't have anything to worry about, not yet anyway. Jeremy was only five years old. It's not like he was going through puberty any time soon. Coming here wouldn't cause him to change. It was way too early for that. My son being the one exception to this rule, but there were other reasons for that.

The earliest anybody had ever phased, before David, were Collin and Brady, when they were thirteen. There was a massive amount of Vampires in the Washington area at the time and they technically were starting puberty, even if they were just at the very beginning of it.

My other sister, Rebecca and her husband, Solomon, had also being given plane tickets to fly here, all the way from Hawaii, but they had, err... _politely_ declined. It was better they didn't come, with all of the craziness going on in a house full of Wolves, Half-Vampires, and my son, who looked like he was practically shooting up, from a boy to a man, right before my eyes. My sister, and her husband, weren't part of the supernatural world and it was probably best if it stayed that way.

At least that Jenks guy was able to come through for us. Nessie had gone to Seattle last week to place the order. When she came back she mentioned that she was worried about Jenks. I couldn't understand why though.

"I guess seeing me in person, this time -" This time? When had she contacted him before? "it suddenly hit him that I was the same little girl in the passport picture he'd obtained, for my mother, six years earlier. He couldn't get his mind to make sense of how it was possible. I was just a toddler back then and now, before him, appeared an adult. He must have realized before, that the name I was using, Vanessa Wolfe, was the same as the one he placed on the passport, but hadn't connected things in his mind until he saw me."

"He already knows there's something odd about our family, Nessie. I wouldn't worry about it."

Luckily Jenks was a professional and delivered the order as promised. He'd even agreed to messenger over our "special order" – a birth certificate, passport, and other documents for David, so neither of us would have to make a return trip out to Seattle to pick everything up. Though that might have been so that he wouldn't have to see any of us again in person. I know Bella had mentioned that Jasper terrifies him.

I wrapped up the envelope from Jenks, adding the information Nessie had found online, for my father. I hope he likes it.

On Christmas morning everyone had gathered in our living room to exchange gifts.

The presents had been divided, a pile was now at everyone's feet, and Wolves, Half-Vampires, and humans all began digging in with equal enthusiasm.

Normally Nessie and I made each other gifts, and would go to some of the local stores to buy everybody else's presents, but since we had David this year we've been too busy and done most of our shopping online. It seemed to work out just as well, if not slightly impersonal, but for some it couldn't be helped. I didn't really have a clue what to get Carol or Jennifer, so Nessie and I decided to go with a food delivery service that would delivered a basket of groceries, complete with easy to follow instructions, every week, for a year. I knew money was tight for Carol, and Jennifer's switch over from human blood to animal mixed with human food wasn't going to be easy. I didn't see her having a lot of cooking skills and thought this would be perfect… for both of them.

Jeremy loved the toy truck we got him, but Paul was having some difficulty getting it out of the box. I could see why. The thing was practically entombed in an overload of cardboard, industrial strength tape, and enough plastic backing to hold a rabid dog in place.

"I think we're going to need some scissors," I heard my brother-in-law say to his son. He'd given up his Wolf a few years ago and with it his enhanced strength, among other things.

"Here, let me," I said to my nephew, as I held out my hand. He suspiciously handed me the encased truck but looked on in awe as I easily tore through the packaging.

I heard a gasp but it wasn't from Jeremy, it was from Nessie. She was holding a card in her hand. Why would that make her look so angry? Following her eyes I saw that she was looking at Nahuel; what had he done now? She handed me the card and I understood her reaction. That idiot had signed David up for dog obedience lessons as a Christmas present to us. It's a good thing he addressed the envelope to Nessie and me, and not David, or else I would have killed him on the spot if our son had seen it.

"Sorry," he smirked, "Jacob really should have been the one to open that. Just a little payback for your gift to me last year."

"What's he talking about?" Nessie demanded.

Once I explained how I had replaced the book she got Nahuel last year with an eHarmony membership she was still angry, but now had refocused it on both of us.

She might have no longer looked like she wanted to rip Nahuel's head off but I still did. I know my gift was equal parts funny (for me) and mean (for him) but that was between us; he shouldn't have brought David into this. That was going too far!

I'd apologize to Nessie later. Right now I had to kick some ass. I leapt to my feet ready to drag the scoundrel outside but Jennifer stepped in between us.

"Jacob please, it's Christmas," she pleaded. "I'll explain to him later what he did wrong," she said as I saw her simultaneously shoo him, with her arm, and ushered him out the front door.

She was right, it was Christmas, and my family was here. And I didn't really want to ruin the holiday with a murder, albeit a justifiable one, but still...

"Fine," I sat back down. "He better not come back for a while." I needed to cool down. A lot!

"Well, let's get back to opening all these presents. Sue, you still have a good size pile there. Want some help opening 'em?" Charlie could always be relied on to focus everyone's attention back to what was really important, with as few words as possible.

Even though David was only three and a half months old, he now looked and acted like a thirteen year old boy. So did Emmett, and Paul for that matter. We had explained the concept of Christmas to David last week, and sat down with him to watch Christmas movie, after Christmas movie, from then until late last night. He understood the concept and seemed to be enjoying himself.

We got David gifts fitting of his "visual age" consisting mostly of books, comics, and video games, but there was also a special gift for him to open. I was a little nervous, not sure how he would take it.

"Here you go, Davie. Merry Christmas," Nessie said handing our son the box that contained a handmade scroll. On it was his complete name – first, middle and last, along with the meaning and origins behind all of them, in Nessie's perfect calligraphy, that she somehow managed to inherit from her father; I didn't even realize that kind of a thing was hereditary. It was something that he could hang on his wall if he wanted to or just keep rolled up in a drawer.

After tearing open the wrapping paper and lifting the box's lid, David unraveled the scroll and slowly looked it over. His eyes grew wide in amazement. I was still a little nervous whether he would be angry or not, learning what his entire name was and what it meant. We'd never discussed it before, just calling him David or Davie. This was a first for him, as well as Billy. But slowly, I saw the edges of his mouth curl up into a smile. I guess he liked it.

"Look Grampy. My name means 'Beloved puppy with dark hair'. That's me," he said, running over to Billy, while pointing to the parts of the scroll that Nessie had put in bold.

As Billy held the paper I could see him carefully reading the entire thing.

* * *

_**David Cullen Black**_

.

_**David**_

_Name Meaning_

_**Beloved**; Friend; Well-beloved, Dear_

_Origin_

_Hebrew_

_This name has been used in Britain_

_since the Middle Ages._

_It has been especially popular in Wales, where it is used in honor _

_of the 5th-century patron saint of Wales, as well as in Scotland._

_**One Borne of Two kingdoms.**_

.

_**Cullen**_

_Name Meaning_

_Handsome; Young Animal;_

_Good Looking Lad,_

_A byname of Coileán, meaning **Puppy** or **Young Dog**_

_Origin_

_Irish_

_Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coileáin._

_Derived from the pre 8th century Old Gaelic name_

_O' Cuileannain, with the prefix O' indicating a male descendant. _

_Cullen is encountered primarily in Dublin and southeast Ireland._

.

_**Black**_

_Name Meaning_

_A Swarthy or **Dark-haired Man**_

_Origin_

_Scottish and English_

_From Middle English blak(e) 'black',_

_Blake and Black are found more or less interchangeably in _

_several surnames and place names._

_._

* * *

Nessie was ecstatic at what she found when she went online to Google the meaning behind David's names on that Ancestry website. She was thrilled to learn that _Cullen_ was the Gaelic word for _puppy_ and _young animal_. It seemed to fit perfectly. The joining of our two families now seemed almost profilitic.

That was why we'd originally picked David as our son's first name. While David didn't mention the _Two Kingdoms_ part of his first name, Nessie and I thought it was a nice touch - the joining of our Vampire and Shape-Shifter worlds. I'm sure he understood what we were going for and was choosing to ignore it for now. We'd taken a chance adding that in, but hoped he would someday see it as the wonderful thing it was.

"Huh. How about that?" was all Billy seemed to have to say at the moment. I don't know if he was stunned, shocked, horrified or what exactly. But he too, after a few minutes, smiled and started chuckling to himself. "Well, isn't that something," he muttered to himself.

I thought it was a good time to show Billy the documents we got from Jenks, confirming for him that we'd made it official, well as official as we could, anyway.

While I knew that Billy would love David officially being a Black, Ness wanted to get my father something else, a tangible gift, as well. She actually came up with the idea just before we went to Isle Esme.

She knew my father loved fishing, and missed not being able to go often now, with his Diabetes confining him to his wheelchair so she'd purchased the boat a while ago, soon after her recovery from David's delivery. The boat she ordered for Billy was similar to the one we used to shuttle back and forth between the island and Rio's mainland.

It was perfect; fast, small, easily maneuverable and most importantly - wheelchair accessible. I didn't even know they made speed boats for wheelchairs, but Nessie had found one. It was actually already in La Push. I wasn't sure if Billy had found out about it yet or not, but knowing Nessie, she likes taking care of everything like that, and had not only arranged for someone to maintain it, but paid for all of the docking fees as well.

Most of the gifts had now been opened. Things were calming down in the living room from the mad paper tearing session that had engulfed the room a short while ago. Jeremy and David were playing with their new toys. I was showing Billy the photo I printed of his new boat, and telling him about some of its features. Nessie was skimming through the book Carol got her. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their presents. Except Leah. Instead of her enjoying the moment she got up and stormed into the kitchen, saying to no one in particular how she was getting some water.

A few seconds later I heard the back door open and close. Guess she decided not to stick around.

"What was that?" Carol asked after we heard something crash in the kitchen.

I got my answer on my next inhale of air.

"Nahuel's back," Seth answered her.

Oh, crap! Those two always ended up fighting when they were in the same room together.

Instead of breaking up another one of their fights, yet again, maybe it would be best if we just let them work out their differences on their own. Everyone seemed to unconsciously follow my lead and just stayed in the living room and continued to open presents, ignoring the fight, as the crashing and breaking thuds got louder and louder.

After a few minutes Sue looked over at me with concern in her eyes for her daughter, but I just gave her an eye roll, essentially reassuring her of Leah's ability to take care of herself, and I didn't really mind if she hurt Nahuel. Sue knew that if I wasn't concerned about her daughter, she didn't need to be either, and relaxed – a bit.

Leah, and Nahuel, would heal quickly, from any injuries they inflicted on each other. What worried me most was all of our stuff they were breaking in the kitchen. Besides the bedroom, it was my favorite room in the house.

"Outside" we all heard Leah screech, before they crashed through the back door. Damn-it! How was I going to find a store that sold doors on Christmas?

At least, this way, any destruction would be contained to the forest. And Leah hadn't phased in the kitchen. That would have made an even bigger mess. She probably would, now that she was outside, though. Not that she needed too. She could handle herself against him, while still on two feet. Even without phasing she was a good three inches taller than Nahuel's puny 5'7" frame. Hell, even Nessie was taller than Nahuel. Leah was more wiry than him though, but she was fast. Fastest of all of the Wolves, actually.

About a half hour later they returned, both of them roughed up a bit, but healing. It looked like they had worked through some stuff because they weren't attacking each other anymore. Maybe it was a Christmas miracle.

"Break a lot of stuff?" Jennifer smirked over to her brother.

"Err, yeah. Sorry about that. I'll fix the door and replace the glasses and other stuff that were... um, in the way," he huffed, resuming his previous seat he had before there escapade.

"Guys, is Christmas. Can't you at least _pretend_ to get along? Just for the day at least?" Nessie admonished both of them.

"Yeah, that's what I was doing," Leah snarled before hearing the growl I gave her. "Why do you think he still has his limbs attached?" she snickered to herself rather mischievously, to which Nahuel snorted a chuckle back.

"Sure, sure," I sighed, under my breath as they gave each other wary looks from opposite sides of the room. Whatever. I really didn't want to be thinking about them and whatever their problems were, anymore. It was Christmas, it was supposed to be a happy day. "Just make sure you clean that mess you made. The sooner the better."

"Hey. Well that was interesting kids, glad you're both okay, but I think it's about time for a beer. Who else wants one?" Charlie asked, looking around the room. Once his eyes landed on mine I shuddered at the thought, and bile began rising up my throat, just from thinking of the last time I drank in Rio.

"Err... no thanks," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, we don't want our most mighty Alpha to hurl all over the carpet again, do we?" Leah chuckled. Of course she would have seen exactly what had happened in Rio on one of the occasions when we were phased together.

"Thanks Leah," I said, while giving her a shut-up-about-it look. But she didn't. She actually kept going on and on, razzing me about my only real (stupid) attempt at drinking. It's not like it was ever going to be repeated. I couldn't even think about alcohol without wanting to vomit. But what was going on with her? Did the fight with Nahuel actually damage her brain or something?

I really didn't want to go through this again. Especially in front of everyone. I'd already had done it once with Edward, at his insistence, as soon as I was recovered enough, in his opinion, from my ordeal with Joham. Edward had pulled me aside, one day, for a completely unnecessary chat. Hadn't I already been through enough? Why did he think I needed to sit through one of his talks?

Thankfully, I think hearing my negative thoughts and feelings on how I now I felt about alcohol, he didn't feel the need to talk to me anymore. Not too much, anyway. Once I was standing in front of him and not just over the phone, he could see just how sick I'd gotten, how much I now hated alcohol, and how unlikely I was ever to try it again.

But seriously, was that really necessary? I was an adult now, no matter how childishly I'd acted. He wasn't my father. I mean, we were both fathers now, I really didn't need him treating me like that. So what if he still had almost a hundred years on me. I'd learned my lesson all on my own.

"I agree Jacob," he had finally confessed to me after letting me stew for a few minutes, actually he just kind of stared me down at first. Or attempted to, but I wasn't backing down from this. I'd regained my Alpha status, I was in control. It's not like he was going to intimidate me, no matter how stupid I'd acted. It's not like he never made a mistake in his life.

Edward had gone from enemy, to friend, to family over the years, but sometimes... nope it's Christmas. Only happy thoughts today.

After the remaining presents were opened I led Nessie to the garage, and everyone followed. There was one more present there for her. I'd meant to give it to her for her birthday, but well, I'd missed that, and she was in no condition to open it at the time, anyway.

Nessie loved her gift just as much as I hoped. It was the car of her dreams, after all. The vintage car show that I'd taken her to, last Valentine's Day was, after all, in part, a pretext to get her to reveal this to me. She'd never been able to verbally nail down her dream car, so I had to find some way to get her to tell me. Thankfully it had worked.

Her present wasn't an actual car, though. What I got her was a wreck. A frame mostly. And a collection of some of the parts we would need to restore it, just like Rosalie had gotten me. It was something we could rebuild together, for hours on end, in the garage. And now David could work on it with us, if he wanted to. I hoped to pass our love of cars on to him. So this really was a present for all of us.

* * *

A couple of days later, during my monthly Skype chat with Embry, he thanked me for the present I'd sent him, then said something that shocked me and also filled me with a little bit of hope for him - he and Colleen were moving back home to La Push.

Embry had been in Texas watching over his imprint for the past two years, ever since she slept with him the night before her wedding to another man. She'd confessed right before the ceremony and he'd taken off. Colleen had followed him, hoping they'd make up, and Embry'd followed her… anything to keep his Imprint safe and happy. I felt bad for all of them but there wasn't much I could do.

"Yeah, it looks like she's finally getting the um, _hint_ that it's over between her and Henry. I didn't think it would take her this long, she's just been so heartbroken. I've tried to do what I could for her, but it's hard. What with me having to stay away for so long, just watching over her from a distance, as a Wolf, you know. But now that we're coming back, I can be human much more often and maybe, hopefully, provide for her the comfort and support that she needs."

"And just exactly how do you plan on comforting her?" Paul snickered over my shoulder.

"Sheesh Paul. Give him a break. Hey isn't it about time you were heading home?" It was great seeing Billy and Rachel again. And I knew they were staying till the end of the week to celebrate the New Years with us too, but I could only take Paul in small doses. He was getting on my nerves.

"Yeah, come on Paul, don't start. And it's nothing like that; I barely talked to her these past couple of years. I just keep an eye on her and make sure she stays safe." He then looked around the room, I guess to make sure she wasn't listening. "I only really see her when I come in to charge the laptop so I can get on these calls. She never really wanted me around her, afraid that Henry would see and get the wrong idea about us. Even just coming over for the hour she's so worried that he'd walk in, see us together, and jump to the wrong conclusion.

"So you've been living as a Wolf this entire time? Living in the woods, hunting for your food? No home, no bed, to TV, no Xbox? That's so messed up!" Paul remarked in disbelief.

I'd known that that was what he'd been doing. I tried to talk him out of it, tried to suggest he may want to get a job, an apartment, try to live a normal, human life as much as he could. It's not like there was that much to worry about regarding Colleen. She wasn't a danger magnet like Bella used to be, but Embry wouldn't hear of it. He thought he needed to watch over her twenty-four/seven.

"It wasn't hard. She got a job as a receptionist in this dental office. It's a really nice, small place located right on the edge of the woods. I think she was trying to be thoughtful that way, at least. And she told me I didn't have to watch over her. I think she would prefer it if I got a job too, but I was the one who wanted to stay with her all of the time, hanging out at the edge of the trees. It's very comforting, knowing that she's safe."

"But you're going home now?" I questioned. Even though he had just told me, I couldn't believe it. Was it was really, finally happening? "Are you moving to the Makah Res with her?" That's where her family was after all.

"No, we talked about it and she actually wants to go to La Push. She wants to leave Texas and Henry and move back, but isn't ready to see the looks on her family and friend faces yet."

"Sure, sure." I guess that makes sense. "Can we do anything to help? Do you need us to send you a plane ticket or anything?"

"Neh. Got it covered. The Cullen's included a return ticket for both of us when they booked our flights down here originally. They're still good, not expiring anytime soon. I don't know how they did that, but we're good, thanks. We should be here for another month or two, while Colleen gives her notice at work and we start packing all of her stuff up, and then will be home."

"Alright, do you need any help finding a place?"

"Please, he's just going to go back to living with his mommy," Paul snickered again.

"Hey Embry, do you want me to break his nose for you now, or would you like to do it yourself when you get back?"

"Actually, Paul is right. I'll probably have to move back in with her, at least for a little while. Just until I can get a job and save up enough to afford a place."

"JACOB! Where are you son?" Billy was yelling as I heard his chair roll through the house.

"In here, dad." What was wrong now? "Embry, I gotta go. But I'm happy that you're moving home. Let me know if you need anything, please," I said before closing the laptop so I could go find Billy. What could have possibly gotten him so worked up that he started screaming throughout the house? He was always so laid back about things. Was something wrong with David? Or Nessie?

"How could you not tell me?" he asked as he wheeled himself into my bedroom before I could charge out of the room to find out if my family was harmed in some way.

"What are you talking about?"

"You almost died and you didn't even think to mention it?" He was normally pretty chill, but currently looked pissed.

"Err, I think I'm gonna go grab something to eat," Paul stammered, seeing the look on my father's face and extracting himself from the room.

"Who told you?"

"Seth did. Don't go being upset with him, it slipped out while we were talking about David and how amazing my Grandson was. He mentioned how everybody was glad that he turned out to be yours. Do you have any idea how upsetting _that_ was to hear? To think that Renesmee, that sweet little girl, might have cheated on you with someone else. Do you understand the crazy thoughts that were going through my head just from that? And then I hear the entire story. Son, why wouldn't you tell me?"

Damn. I was a grown man, but my dad was making me feel like a naughty child who got caught stealing candy, just from the look he was giving me.

"I didn't want to worry you," I said to the floor, unable to look him directly in the eye. "I didn't see the point. I'm fine, Nessie's fine."

"Jacob, no matter how old you get you will still be my son. I care about what happens to you."

"Sure, sure. I promise, next time I almost die I'll be sure to call."

"Instead, how about trying to make sure there's not going to be a next time? Living with a bunch of Vampires is just dangerous, even if the Cullen's are different, good. Their _friends_ aren't. Things happen. Maybe you should think about moving home."

"This is my home now dad. And the only reason we were captured in the first place was because we weren't with the Cullen's. Leaving them gave Joham the opportunity he needed."

"Oh. don't give me that crap, if you were back home, your real home, where you belonged, none of that would have happened. You would have been safe, surrounded by your brothers. No one would have been able to touch you, or Nessie. Look, son," Billy sighed, the anger starting to slip from his face, "I know you're a man now and I'm not trying to get all parental on you. I'm just saying, it would be nice to know these things; you know, the important things. Almost dying is a pretty important thing."

"Sure, sure." I wasn't angry at him, I know he only said those things because he was scared for me. It was because he cared, and I loved him for it.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know you love Nessie and need to be with her. You can live wherever you want. With whoever or whatever you want. I'm just saying that I, well I kinda miss ya. I miss having you around, son."

"I'll try to visit more often dad, but my home is with Nessie. She can't live in La Push, and I can't live without her."

"I know. Still doesn't mean that I don't miss you, though." He turned and started wheeling himself out, but stopped in the doorway just long enough to say one last thing and then was gone. "Every time I see you I'm left wondering if it'll be for the last time." That nearly broke my heart.

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading. Please, Please, Please review.

if you are interested you can go to ancestry . com to see the full meaning behind the Black and Cullen names. What i wrote for the scroll was directly from that site.

ancestry dot com/name-origin?surname=black

ancestry dot com/name-origin?surname=cullen

.

Also, i know there are a lot of Jake/Nessie stories out there where they eventually get married and Nessie moves to La Push. This is not one of those stories. they will not be moving back now that the Cullens moved to France.

The way i read the books, long ago members of the tribe first phased when a lone couple of vamps moved through the area to feed. Having Nessie LIVE permanently in La Push, with the two of them never aging, is just not something that i see being realistic. she would be continuously setting off the wolf gene in any unphased descendents of Taha Aki. Also only the wolves and council are in on the vamp secret. I dont see how they would explain never aging to the entire rest of the tribe.


	9. Dinner and La Push

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Nine**

**Dinner and La Push**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

They were fast, faster than any human, or bike, or most cars for that matter. They were also deadly silent as they ran through the forest, looking for their next unsuspecting prey. But I was fast and silent too. I'd been following the two of them for almost three miles now. Then a river cut off my path. Vampires could easily jump over the water but as a Wolf it wasn't so easy for me. By the time I got to the water's edge they were already past the water, up the hill and over the next cliff. They were out of my sights and I had lost them. It was only a temporary setback. Once I was on the other side of the river I sniffed around and easily caught there scents and was back following them, yet farther behind now.

They were lethal killing machines and had been closing in on their pray for the last 20 minutes. He was innocent, having no idea the danger he was in. I needed to hurry up to make it on time.

Pushing my muscles to their limit, making each stride as long as I could trying to get an extra few inches with each step, and shoving off adding When I got there I saw I was too late; the body was cold and my son's belly full. He'd done it! He'd taken down the massive stag, and judging by the smile on his face Nessie hadn't had to help. He'd wanted to try hunting completely on two feet this time so Nessie was showing him how it was done.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Davie yelled as I ran up to them. "Dad did you see me? I did it! I bet mom's never nabbed a stag that big before. Have you mom?"

"He was huge," Nessie confirmed, while avoiding telling our son how she regularly catches animals as big as, if not bigger than this deer, all the time.

On the run back to the house David lost control and phased without meaning to. Now that we were both Wolves I saw it was because he was so happy with himself; I don't think he even noticed he'd phased, he was so lost in his own world, reliving his success. Not wanting my son to see my thoughts and ruin things for him (at least not at this moment) I phased back onto two feet. I wasn't as fast this way, but it looked like Nessie wanted to talk to me anyway.

We talked while running back to the house about David's success, but I got the feeling there was something else she wanted to say. "Is there something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "I wanted to have an evening together, just the two of us."

"Oh!" That was nice, not what I was expecting at all. When she hadn't told me what she was thinking right away my thoughts immediately went south. "Okay, we could probably get Leah or Seth to watch…"

"I already asked Jennifer and Nahuel. They said they could watch him tomorrow night. There's one more thing," she said while looking even more hesitant than before.

"Anything," I assured her.

"I wanted to make us a nice dinner."

That was what she was afraid to tell me? "I'd love that," I once again tried to calm her fears and let her know that anything she wanted would be fine with me.

"Well to do that…" she momentarily paused, "I was hoping you and David could stay out of the house… for the day," she said. "I need time to get everything ready," quickly adding at the end.

"Ness, whatever you want," I assured her, this time grabbing her up in my arms, while I continued to run, and kissing her, so that there would be no doubt left in her mind that I was okay with whatever she had planned.

The next day I spent, hunting and running with David, as Nessie requested.

Having this one-on-one time with him was fun, I missed it. Today was the first time in months Nessie and I spent any real time apart, not that David and I had gone far. We were just running a few miles from the house. When Davie was first born, and Nessie wasn't able to even get out of bed, all of the parenting had fallen on me, but since her recovery Nessie had been amazing, taking care of our son with me.

I couldn't wait for tonight. It was entirely Nessie's idea and I wasn't sure what the occasion was. I should have asked her when she asked me to stay out of the house yesterday, but I was so consumed with trying to please her it never even occurred to me. It was the middle of April; it wasn't either of our birthdays, Valentine's Day was two months ago and Mother's Day wasn't until next month. I'd already been working on what I was going to do to make her first one unforgettable. I guess I'd just have to wait and see.

After dropping David off at Nahuel and Jennifer's I walked back to our house at precisely 7pm, just like Nessie had asked. The lights were off and everything was dark. I could still see fine, but what was going on? Looking around the living room I saw a single lit candle on the fireplace mantle. Resting in front of it was a card. When I opened it I saw two things: a single red rose petal and two words inscribed on the card:

_**Follow Me**_

Follow me? Where was she? I didn't see her anywhere. Then I noticed a flower petal by my foot. Another was a few feet away, and another after that. It was a trail. I could smell the dinner, in the dining room, that Nessie must have made, but the petals went in the opposite direction. Following them up the stairs, I saw that they stopped in front of the music room. On the other side of the door more votive candles lit up the entire room. Nessie was sitting at the piano, playing a song I didn't recognize. It was beautiful. I wonder if she wrote it herself.

Nessie didn't stop playing as I walked over to her; she hadn't even looked up from the keys, yet.

On top of the piano lid was a single tall tapered candle emerging from an elegant candlestick, two bubbling Champagne flutes, and a small, but long box, with another card.

_**Open Me**_

Lifting the lid I couldn't believe was I saw inside.

No! It couldn't be. It was too soon.

"Are you -" I couldn't get the rest of the words out. Was it possible? We'd been so careful so that this wouldn't happen. Not yet anyway. We were hoping to wait another month or two. But was she actually pregnant, again?

We knew that Nessie didn't have that much time left before she turned seven and her body froze. And it's not that we didn't want to have more children. It's just that we thought we would give ourselves a little more time in between; give Nessie's body a little more time to recover. It had only been seven months since David was born.

Normally women recover from childbirth in like eight weeks, I think. While Nessie's labor and delivery was a lot more traumatic than most, having David phase in the process and essentially ripping her in half, she took just slightly longer to recover, being Half-Vampire and having accelerated healing, and all. So I guess she'd been fully healed for the past four-ish plus months but I was still worried.

As I stood there, frozen, Nessie finally stopped playing, slowly lifted her eyes to meet mine and nervously smiled, while handed me one of the flutes. She didn't really expect either of us to drink this, did she? She knows how I feel about alcohol now, and if she was actually pregnant she definitely shouldn't be drinking it.

"Its sparkling cider," she smirked, probably seeing the expression on my face. "I thought it'd be nice to celebrate, this time. We never got a chance to with David."

"Were celebrating?" I questioned delicately, I didn't want to upset her if she was truly happy about this, but I just wanted to be sure. I didn't want her to feel bad about this. I smiled and kissed her. I needed to be strong for her, even if I was terrified.

"Don't you… I thought you wanted to have another child," she stuttered, fear breaking into her voice.

Oh, crap. I hadn't meant to upset her. That was the last thing I wanted to do. "Of course I do sweetheart. You've made me the happiest man on the planet. I just wanted to make sure that you're ready."

She seemed to relax and a smile reappeared on her face.

What were we going to do? The Cullen's were still in France. We couldn't go to a hospital for the delivery. While she appeared (almost) human, Nessie's vitals weren't close to ones. Her body temp was 107, had a fluttering speedy heartbeat, super hard skin that no nurse would ever be able to get a needle into, and that was just the beginning. I didn't see how she would be able to handle being around injured, bleeding humans.

I should call Carlisle, get him to hop on the first plane to come back. Would he? Of course he would. They all would.

But knowing how much David had a problem with them this baby would probably be the same. Did we really want to put this child under the same amount of stress? And if the Cullen's were here, this baby would probably be more likely to phase coming out as well. I didn't want to do that to Nessie.

Whatever we were going to do we were going to have to decide fast, as in immediately. Last time Nessie was pregnant for about ten days. Most people normally didn't find out they were pregnant until over a month had gone by, so how far along was she even? How much time did we have left? Damn. We needed Carlisle. My mind was racing. Then it hit me. We could go back to La Push. There were midwives there that could help us. Ones that knew the whole Wolf secret.

The life and safety of my Imprint and unborn child were much more important than possibly triggering the gene and creating a few new additional Wolves.

Nessie called her parents to let them in on the good news, (she'd wanted to tell me first) while I made the travel arrangements. Bella and Edward were as concerned as I was, but agreed not to come back. Sort of. They said they wouldn't step foot in the state of Washington, knowing the fears of my tribe, but they were leaving France.

I managed to book the three of us plane tickets to Washington. The earliest flight I could get was for tomorrow evening, at least it only had one stop over, with a little over an hour wait, in Minnesota. Trying to look on the bright side I rationalized that this would give us time to pack and hunt.

The later flight also gave me time to call Billy, break the news, and make arrangements for when we arrived. He promised to talk to some of the midwives in the know and get everything ready by the time we arrived

Sue, most likely -

She had been a midwife for decades. She'd delivered half the kids on the Res. I didn't see how Billy would be able to stop her from being there for Nessie. She was technically her Step-Granddaughter.

And maybe Kim -

She was in med school, and had also started studying to be a midwife, but I wasn't sure how far along she'd gotten. Probably not enough to deliver a baby, but at least enough to be there, even if all she could do was be a support to Nessie if needed. I hoped.

Who else?

I was racking my brain to think of any other midwives or anyone with any medical training that also knew about Wolves, but was coming up blank. I guess I'll just have to leave it up to Billy.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

Our flight to La Push didn't take off until 9:20pm.

Eight hours in the air, even with the layover… that was a lot of humans for David to be around at once. I was worried about him exactly. I wasn't worried about him attacking anyone on the flight. While he still hadn't acquired a taste for human food, like Jake had hoped, his preferred diet still was herbivore blood.

He was so much more Wolf than Vampire, that not only did he not even _crave_ human blood, he was strangely, _fiercely_, protective of them, for some reason; even while having not met more than a handful. Still I was concerned how my son would act around them.

David was use to being around Wolves, and Half-Vampires. Before my family left for France he had more experience being around Full-Vampires than he did with humans. His only real interactions being when Jake's family visited for Christmas, and his trips to the comic book store – not that those actually involved a lot of _interaction_ to speak of, unless you were a cartoon character.

We had a day and a half. If we weren't packing or hunting, Jake and I were schooling our son on proper behavior. No superhuman fast movements, no answering questions from anyone so far away that a human would have no way of hearing, no unfeasible feats of strength, and especially no phasing. We drilled these, and any other issues we could think of, that could possibly expose us, over and over again. I think David got it. Now my only concern was that he was growing so fast he would look noticeably older leaving the plane than when he got on it.

Thankfully human eyes were weak and it seemed that no one was able to discern any noticeable change to his appearance. At least no one said anything. I however could clearly see that he'd aged at least four days on the first half of the flight alone.

My seven month old baby looked like a seventeen year old teenager now. He'd aged five years since Billy, Paul, and Rachel had seen him for Christmas. At least we were able to use the IDs we'd already obtained for him, so he was able to board the plane, because there was no time to get new ones from Mr. Jenks.

Once we landed Billy was waiting at the airport to pick us up. But there was something I needed to do first. The flight was long. Too long for pregnant me, and I was thirsty. Going from New Hampshire to the airport in Boston then to Minnesota for a one hour layover, then finally to Washington ended up being an eleven hour ordeal. I would have been fine if I wasn't pregnant, but I had an expanding stomach, and appetite to match. I needed to hunt again... now! I couldn't risk being in an enclosed car with Billy.

We'd pre-shipped all of the donated blood my Grandfather left at the house, in the appropriate medical containers yesterday, in case I, or the baby, needed it after the delivery.

When we'd called to let them know the good news, my Grandfather had gone over a list of things that we would need, and informed us of the correct way to ship everything, so that not only would it not get ruined, but so that it would be allowed onto the plane. Jasper forged the needed paperwork to accompany everything and had emailed it to us.

The blood was safely tucked away in Billy's frig by now. I wouldn't want to dip into that. It might be essential later. Besides it was human blood, and I was once again craving deer.

Just as we were approaching Billy I grabbed Jake's arm. _I can't get in that truck, honey. I need to duck out to hunt, _I told him with my gift.

Because of the time difference we had touched down in Seattle a little after five in the morning. It was still dark enough that I would be able to just run to the closest forest, snag a quick deer, or two, and meet everyone back at La Push just after the sun came up.

"I figured as much," he replied before quietly going over to Billy to explain the situation.

David's rapid growth meant he needed to hunt more frequently than I ever had, but he assured us that he was still good for another day or two, after our hunting trip yesterday. He wasn't drinking for two like I was.

"Come on honey," Jake said holding out his hand as he led me towards the woods. He had insisted on coming with me, while Billy drove David to his house. It was a short run, by supernatural standards, and my pregnancy wasn't affecting my speed so it wasn't a problem. .

We decided to tell people, anyone who wasn't already in the know about Wolves, that David was a friend we met at Dartmouth, who had been adopted as a baby and came back with us to look for his birth mother. It should work; he was half Native American, after all. He was only slightly paler than Jake, having inherited half of my perfect porcelain skin, but his hair and eyes were jet black, just like his father's.

But that was only a story we needed to spread if someone asked. La Push wasn't a big Reservation, barely boasting three hundred Tribal members. It was small enough that you could recognize everybody by site, if not name, and they would definitely notice if there was someone new hanging around.

Billy had shocked and surprised us by offering to claim David as his own, some sort of love child from his past that no one knew about. But we couldn't do that to Billy. He'd loved Jake's mother completely; he still does, and would never have been unfaithful to her.

I didn't think that we would be staying that long that it would be a problem anyway. We'd go, I would have a nice, easy, normal deliver, recover for a couple days, stay maybe a week so everyone could see the baby, and then we'd leave. That was my plan anyway.

But right now we'd just arrived in the forest and the sun was starting to rise. Not that it was especially _sunny_ out. We were in Washington after all, were rain was the norm, so I guess it would be more accurate to say that it was getting lighter out, behind the clouds.

I'm surprised Jake let me hunt at all, looking the way I did right now. I think this pregnancy was a little further along than I'd realized. While I hadn't been as obsessive, ritually taking pregnancy tests every week, as I had before David was born, I thought it was safe using the every other week schedule I'd set for myself. Maybe it wasn't enough. It was so hard to tell. My periods hadn't returned to normal yet, after I'd given birth to David, so I didn't know exactly when I'd gotten pregnant. And it's not like they were ever consistent either, constantly slowing down, and getting further apart, as I approached my seventh birthday.

When I told Jake that we were expecting another child I thought I was maybe three or four days along. But seeing how my stomach had expanded over the course of the plane ride from a slight bulge to about what a normal woman would look like if she was six months pregnant, I must have been slightly further along than I'd realized, to say the least.

Really taking the tests this time was more wishful thinking than anything. I was so close to my seventh birthday and hadn't really thought I could even get pregnant anymore.

It was funny in a way, expecting David's four day aging to be the problem when my rapid pregnancy advancement was the real cause for concern. But thanks to my bulky jacket that I'd brought, expecting the rainy Washington weather, I was able to keep my once tiny beginning of the flight belly that had expanded, to my now obviously pregnant post flight stomach, hidden from the humans.

I loved the sight and feel of having another baby growing inside of me. I could now feel him or her kick. On the flight, after the first one I'd nonchalantly taken Jake's hand and placed it on my stomach so he could feel it too. He never got to with David and I think it both shocked and amazed him. The wonder and joy on his eyes was just so beautiful to see. I loved it.

But the downside was that now I needed to hunt, desperately. I was starving. And since running didn't seem to be giving me any problems I didn't foresee any issues. Jake however had other ideas.

Just as I was about to leap on a deer he grabbed my arm, held me back and insisted he would get it for me. I knew he was concerned for my safety, but it was just a deer. It couldn't hurt me. Even kicking with all of its strength, it would feel like nothing more than a tickle. But I knew my Jacob was just concerned about me... us, so I let him nab the steed and deliver it back to me so I could feed. As I drank it my stomach grew even larger, right before my eyes.

It's not like I hadn't gone through this before, my almost instantly expanding stomach, I mean. I'd purposely worn stretchy pants, for this very reason, but as I shuffled them down under my belly I now wished I'd gone up a size to start with. This was the first time Jake had seen it happen. By my calculations I'll probably be giving birth again sometime tonight.

"Wow, look at you there, Nessie." Paul exclaimed, running over to Jake and myself once we stepped through the doorway of Billy's house a short time later. "You look like you're ready to pop. I wonder who's going to go into labor first? You or Rachel?" he mused to himself.

I didn't think I was that big, yet. I probably would be in a few hours though.

Where was Rachel? I hadn't actually forgotten she was also pregnant, with my endemic memory I wasn't capable of it, but my own pregnancy had temporarily distracted me from the fact that she was due around now as well.

That would be nice, having the two cousins born around the same time. Not that they would be able to grow up together, and mine would most likely be an adult by this time next year, if he or she followed the same growth pattern as David. But maybe if Rachel delivered soon we would at least be able to get a picture of the two babies together, side by side, for posterity.

"Is everything ready?" Jacob asked barely acknowledging his brother-in-law. I knew where his mind was at. He wasn't trying to be mean or rude, he was just so worried about me, he couldn't even think straight. But I was fine and I had no doubt that everything would be okay. And if it wasn't then I would heal, not that I was looking forward to going through all the delivery pain and recovery again. I'm sure no woman did.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"We're back." I called to Billy, once Nessie and I came back into his house. Nessie needed to feed again and while she kept insisting she could hunt I had rejected that idea.

"I'll get you as many deer as you want, but there's no way I'm risking your, or the babies, safety letting you hunt."

Billy didn't really appreciate it the first time I brought Nessie a deer… in the middle of the living room, so the next time she said she was thirsty she met me outside to feed.

This was the third time, since we arrived and probably the last, judging by the size of her stomach, before she delivered.

Billy came out and informed me that Paul had tracked down Jared, to take David on a run with some of the other remaining Wolves, before taking Jeremy to the beach, while Rachel took a nap. This pregnancy was taking a lot out of her and she'd been sleeping a great deal lately. Paul didn't like being away from his Imprint, even more so now with her so close to her due date, but she'd asked this of him and he, of course gave her whatever she wanted.

I knew David wouldn't be able to communicate with Jared's Pack, but thought it was probably fine for them to run around together, and he would get a kick out of it, having only been able to run as Wolves with Leah and myself, back home.

Of course, there is always Embry. He was still in my Pack, technically. Though I hadn't actually seen him in person in a number of years, but he'd moved back to the area, at least. He never joined Jared's Pack like I thought he might. But once he and Colleen arrived home from Texas, her mother had convinced her to move back to the Makah Reservation and so, of course, Embry followed her there.

He decided to stay in my Pack since he wasn't in La Push. Having two separate Packs in such a small area, wasn't really feasible, long term; even if he was normally the sole member there. But that was a problem that we could deal with later.

Before I'd left with the Cullen's, Sam and I'd divided the territory, where his Pack took La Push and mine had Forks and the surrounding area.

I should call Embry, sometime soon, after Nessie gives birth. It would be great to see him in person again and David would probably enjoy having a new Wolf mind to connect with.

"Everything's all set up for you in the living room, just like you asked. The medical supplies and blood arrived last night. It's in the kitchen. You have nothing to worry about. I won't let anything happen to my grandchild, or her mother."

"Thank you Billy," Nessie said wrapping her arms around him as much as she could. Though her stomach had grown even bigger than when we'd arrived this morning, thanks to her Vampire half she wasn't having any trouble moving as gracefully as she normally did. She still managed to look incredibly sexy while pregnant.

Nessie didn't even look nervous. I wasn't sure how she was doing it. I couldn't keep still. In between hunting trips I'd already changed the oil on Billy's truck and fixed his wheelchair lift that I'd noticed squeaked when he'd gotten into the truck, back at the airport.

Maybe I could go and check the shocks or rotate the tires or something.

It was after 10pm when I finished those two things and was about to check the transmission fluid.

Nessie, of course, not wanting to have her out of my sight, or me hers, had been helping me out the entire time. She'd wanted to do more, being just as capable under the hood of a car as I was, but in her condition she was currently sidelined to just handing me tools and fluids.

"Honey can you hand me the -"

"Nope! Sorry Jake. You're all done for the night," she cut me off.

Huh? "I know you must be bored just watching me. Let me just do this one last thing and then we can go inside."

"No Jake, we need to go now."

"Nessie, I just -" I was about to argue that it wouldn't take that long, but as I turned around and took one look at her face, I saw the cause of her stubbornness.

But it wasn't stubbornness at all. The baby was coming!

* * *

**A.N.** Okay so Nessie is about to give birth in Billy's living room... what could go wrong? If you've read my stories you know the answer - EVERYTHING

Stay tuned. :)


	10. The Birth

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Ten**

**The Birth**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Oh crap! The baby - its coming.

My heart, which normally beats faster than a human's, suddenly stopped. Not until Nessie screeched out in pain do I think it resumed, and when it did, started thumping faster than I thought possible.

I dashed Nessie into my father's house and laid her down on the makeshift birthing bed. It was my old, tiny twin sized bed from when I used to live here.

Billy had agreed to let us convert his living room into a sort of hospital room slash possible trauma center. I was hoping for the best, but I knew to prepare for the worst. It was a part-Vampire/part-Wolf child after all. Anything could happen.

As soon as I set her down Nessie curled up into a fetal position, clutched her stomach, and screamed again, louder this time than I've ever heard her, as another contraction hit.

Seeing how much pain my angel was in, all the plans we'd made seemed stupid. She needed a safe clean environment, with nurses, and doctors, and machines, and equipment, and medicine, and everything else we didn't have here. "Forget this. I'm taking you to the hospital."

Nessie's eyes grew wide. Fearful. "What if our baby comes out as a Wolf again?" she argued. Her concern made sense. That had been my whole reason for coming to La Push in the first place, but seeing her actually in labor made me not care anymore. All I cared about was her. Her safety. Her well being. Her health. Her life.

Our child's phasing in front of witnesses would be a problem, but it wasn't my main concern. "We'll find some way to deal with it, if that happens" I tried arguing back.

"H…. oooww?" she managed to squeak out through another contraction. They were coming so quickly. She was adamant and getting more and more upset. "Volturi will find out… rule… not expose 'selves to humans."

Like I would forget their requirement that we keep the supernatural world, not just Vampires, but wolves too, a secret from the humans.

"Sweetheart, you're in pain. Wouldn't you be more comfortable in a hospital?" It killed me to see her like this.

She was only able to shake her head as the next contraction hit.

Everything had been set up for when Nessie went into labor here. Just going by her size we'd assumed it would happen sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Paul had already taken Rachel and Jeremy to Sam's, for the night, and David had gone with them.

Billy was on the phone as soon as I carried Nessie into the house. Since La Push was not being very big, Kim and Sue were already here, ready to help Nessie through the delivery. "Emily should be here any minute to take care of the baby, once it's born," he added as Kim checked over all of the tools Carlisle had suggested we get and Sue stated setting up some equipment.

I didn't think this child would phase coming out, like last time. There were no Vampires around. But what if we were wrong, what if that was just the natural way Nessie's body was designed to give birth and the innate way our child came into the world?

"Who's he?" I questioned Billy, while gesturing to some guy who was walking into the house now.

"Lucas Uley, he's here to help with the delivery. He's a doctor," my father explained.

Lucas? His name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember exactly who he was related to. Uley, while not as common as Smith or Jones, wasn't exactly rare on the Reservation. Everyone was kinda related to everyone else, even if only distantly. "Is he Sam's cousin?"

Billy nodded.

I'd tried to talk as quietly as I could, but it was hard for my father to hear, over Nessie's wails.

"He's also my brother," Sue replied, with a smirk, obviously also hearing me.

That's embarrassing, but as soon as she said it I remembered. If he was ten years younger he probably would have phased with the rest of us back when the Cullen's first moved to Forks. Now that I thought of it, I remembered hearing how he'd gone to Med school back when I first left to follow Nessie and the Cullen's.

Had Billy let him in on our secret? Even for Nessie's sake, I was shocked. It always had been a rule that no one was ever told, not even the parents of current Wolves. It made it harder on them, but the secret was kept above all else.

"Edward called," my father explained, seeing the confusion on my face. "He err... stressed how dangerous this could be for Nessie, going into more detail than I would have liked, informing me about the... um, events of her first delivery," my father squirmed in his chair. "It was _agreed_ that we have a medical professional here, just in case this time and, luckily, Dr. Lucas was available."

Nessie screamed again as another contraction hit. Instantly, my focus was returned completely to her. I hadn't left her side since bringing her in, rubbing her back and trying to make her as comfortable as possible, but should have been paying her more attention.

Kim and Sue had gotten Nessie changed out of her pants and draped a sheet over her lower half but when Lucas went to lift it up my protective Wolf instincts kicked it.

Suppressing a growl I reminded myself that he was a professional. And was here to help.

"What kind of doctor are you," I asked him.

"Internal medicine," he cockily replied, "but I'm sure I can handle a simple delivery."

Yeah, right! Not, if it was anything like the last time. I guess this was as good as we were going to get, better than I'd hoped for anyway.

"Does he know everything," I questioned my father while also ignoring him as he began to unnecessarily recount his resumé, while simultaneously checking on Nessie's progress.

"He's been told about Nessie and the Wolves, but that's it. There wasn't time for much else. He hasn't even seen anyone phase yet."

I didn't really care if he saw his niece and nephew, or cousin, or any of the others, turn into a giant Wolf or not. All I currently cared about was Nessie's safety and well being, and that of our (soon to be born) child. I wanted to make sure he was ready for what was about to happen. My father assured me he would be. I hoped he was right.

Late that night, or early the next morning, depending on how you looked at it, Nessie was still having contractions. It was after 3am. Nessie's labor had been going on for hours now. Much longer, then when she had David. That was over almost instantaneously; Edward told me how she'd gone into labor, and delivered David, all in under an hour.

Lucas was checking her every hour and she had been fully dilated last night, but as much as she pushed nothing was happening. Eventually her contractions stopped. She wasn't progressing. It was as if her delivery had stalled. But the pain hadn't. She was in agony! Screaming and crying, begging to get the baby out of her.

I was so worried I couldn't even think straight. All I could do was wear a hole in the carpet as I paced back and forth around the bed, in between trying unsuccessfully to comfort my angel.

Lucas had suggested giving her a drug called Pitocin, to restart her labor, but he was unable to get a needle into Nessie's marble-like skin. Finally, after an hour, unable to think of anything else, Sue suggested Nessie just try pushing again. Maybe that would trigger her body to continue the labor.

She began pushing again, but as Lucas checked on her progress he shook his head. "The embryonic sac is still intact, I would have thought it would have broken by now, especially after that last one." It had been a large push. She wanted this to be over with and Ness nearly broke the table with the strength she put behind it.

"It didn't with David either," she huffed, "not until he phased."

Lucas grabbed one of the tools to do it himself, but I watched in horror as he pulled it out, and saw the long metal instrument crumpled in on itself. It hadn't done a thing.

"We have a problem," Lucas exclaimed. Duh! "I don't see any way for you to deliver vaginally. I'm going to try a cesarean." But the same thing happened to the scalpel, as the other tool, when he tried to cut into Nessie's stomach. "Does anyone have any ideas?" he asked distraught, while looking around the room. No one did.

We already knew that Nessie's skin was as strong as a Full-Vampires. So was the embryonic sac that protected our unborn child. It was why we had never been able to see David on the ultrasound – both an external and internal one. If it was just Nessie's Vampire strong skin, we would have still been able to see the fetus on an internal ultrasound.

Was that the reason David had phased? To break out of the embryonic sac? But this time the baby wasn't phasing. Why? Was it because there were no Vampires here to set off the change? Was the baby a girl who would never phase? Or was it something else entirely?

Whatever it was, the baby needed help getting out. Suddenly I knew what I was going to have to do and it sickened me.

A second later Nessie came to the same horrible realization. The only thing that would be able to penetrate Vampires skin was another Vampire… or a Wolf's teeth. And we were fresh out of Vampires.

Nessie was again screaming in agony. We couldn't wait any longer. Dread filled my mind as I fully realized what I was going to have to do. But I looked over at Ness and she gave me a small tear filled nod, letting me know that I needed to do it, now.

There was no time to waste.

Memories of Nessie's own delivery, and the similarities between the two, started pouring into my mind. Edward had to literally use his teeth to cut Nessie out of Bella and it looked like I was going to have to do the same. But my Wolf mouth was much less precise than Edward's smaller Vampire teeth, and I was going to have to rip through her stomach as well.

I had everyone move back before I phased right in the middle of the living room, only breaking a single chair in the process. Unfortunately Lucas's constitution wasn't as secure as his massive ego and he fainted on the spot.

Pansy!

Kim rushed to his side and helped him to a chair.

My heart was full of dread as I looked at Nessie, one final time, knowing what I was about to do, the agony I was about to put her through. But she was already in agony. But we were both resolved to do this. The baby wouldn't be able to come out any other way.

I wish there was some way we could have given her an epidural, like Carlisle had done before David's delivery. As much as I'd tried to plan and prepare for this in the last two days it had completely slipped my mind that a bunch of humans wouldn't be able to get a needle into Nessie's skin. Once she delivered, Sue promised they would be able to give Nessie some Percocet or Motrin, but it was too risky until the baby was out.

Several things happened next, all seemingly at once. I bit, Ness screamed, Kim threw up, and Lucas passed out… again.

After I tore through Nessie's skin, Sue was able to get in there and take the baby out, but I hadn't gone deep enough. I hadn't wanted to hurt the baby, but now it was still trapped in the embryonic sac.

And Nessie… she looked horrible. I'd tried to do as little damage as possible, but my Wolf mouth was huge. Her stomach had been shredded and she was losing a lot of blood. Lucas, now revived, but still looking a little green, started to work on putting Nessie back together, with Kim and Sue's help.

Since needles and sutures wouldn't work on her skin, they were trying to put Nessie back together with medical tape. It was how Carlisle had repaired Nessie when David was born. Carlisle had told us what kind to buy, just in case, and we'd stockpiled it here.

Emily was now holding the baby, uselessly trying to get to it through the small hole in the umbilical cord. It wasn't working.

An idea finally occurred to me and I phased back. I didn't need to bite again; Nessie's own nails should be able to penetrate the sac. Of course, mentally and physically, she wasn't in any condition to do it herself. "Emily, bring the baby over here!" I said as I grabbed Nessie's hand, and used her own nails to try and rip into the sac. It worked! Emily was then able to get the baby out.

She started checking to make sure everything was okay, but the baby looked fine, to me at least. It was a girl. She was awake, alert… breathing, which was one of the things Emily had been panicking about earlier. When Emily gave me the all clear I went to check on Nessie.

She was too tired to scream from the pain anymore. Her body was shaking and I could tell by her eyes how much she was suffering, but then she got still and her eyes seemed to lose focus.

Oh no!

"Nessie, stay with me," I screamed when her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Nessie?"

Nothing.

"NESSIE!" I started shaking her.

"Jake, back away!" Sue yelled. "We need room to work."

"JARED!" I heard Kim yell, "Take Jake out of HERE."

What? No! I can't leave HER! She can't leave ME! But I was overpowered. Jared showed up with five other Wolves, I think. I wasn't really counting. I just knew they were dragging me out of the house.

No! I needed to get back in there. "LET ME GO!"

"Jake, let them work. You're not helping anyone like this."

Argh. I knew he was right. But I still wanted… needed to be in there. I kept fighting to break free, but no matter how strong I was, no matter if I was an Alpha or not, they were not in my Pack, they wouldn't listen to me, and I couldn't win in a fight, not against six other Wolves. For now I was stuck outside, while my angel fought for her life inside.

If she died, I knew I would soon follow. I needed to let them work on her, to save both of our lives.

Eventually, just after the sun came up, it felt like forever, but was probably only around an hour, Kim came out of the house. She was covered in blood.

"Nessie... is she... ?"

"She's alive," Kim assured me. "We got the bleeding under control and she's stable." I probably would have known if she'd died. The pull I always felt to her would have been gone. But I still felt it. Even through all my nerves I knew, deep down, that Nessie was still alive, but it felt good to hear Kim say it out loud. "How are you doing? Are you calm enough to come back into the house to see her?"

Was she kidding? I wouldn't be calm until I saw Nessie with my own eyes. But not wanting the other Wolves to keep me away any longer I just nodded.

When I walked back through the front door I saw my angel. She looked paler than normal, which was saying a lot, because she was normally pretty white to begin with, but didn't look like she was going to lose consciousness again; I guess that was a good sign. I could tell she was still in pain, though. We needed to find a way to get some blood and pain killers into her.

Damn! Nessie was going to have another long recovery – if she survived. She looked so bad, I still wasn't completely certain she would.

What had I done?

She was trying to put on a brave face, but I was sure she was in agony. Her entire stomach had been ripped open by me. I felt like a monster.

"Hi sweetheart. How are you doing?" I asked while stroking her hair.

"I want to see our baby," Nessie croaked.

What? The baby? Our daughter. I'd almost forgotten about her in all of the panic for my angel's life.

"She's right here," Emily said from the corner of the room. She was cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket. Emily was about to hand our daughter to my beautiful angel, (now I guess I had two beautiful angels) but Nessie still looked like she was in immense pain. How could she hold a baby like this?

Prior to this Moment I don't think my brain was functioning on any of the higher levels needed in order to form coherent thoughts, or develop plans beyond caveman smash and grab type ones, but I think I finally had a _good_ idea.

"Nessie, honey, before you hold her you need to drink some blood and take something for the pain first."

"Fine," she gave in, "but the pills will take time to work and I want to see my baby now."

"I wish I'd thought of this earlier honey, I'm so sorry, but I know how to get an IV into your arm."

"Really? How?" I guess her brain, that normally worked so much faster and better than my own, was as sloshy as mine had been, which was understandable given the situation though.

"Do you think you can use your nail to make a small cut right here," I asked, pointing to the appropriate spot on her arm, "so that Dr. Lucas can insert a needle for the IV?" She nodded, then I looked to him. "You'll have to move fast, her skin heals almost instantly."

It took Lucas multiple tries and he still hadn't been able to move fast enough to insert the needle. He was getting frustrated after his attempts had gone into double digits and he was losing hope that this was possible. I guess my idea wasn't as brilliant as I'd thought.

Sue decided to give it a try though, at first not doing much better, but after the fourth attempt finally managed to get the needle in, but then she wasn't strong enough to push it in past the opening. Luckily I was and Lucas talked me through how to slip it into Nessie's vein without overshooting.

After Nessie drank a couple packs of blood and the painkillers had had a chance to circulate, Nessie started feeling better. Not much, but enough that she wanted to try and hold our daughter again.

Emily brought her over and placed her gently in Nessie's arms as I looked on in awe. Our daughter looked just like her mother, though her eyes and her skin were a bit darker, just like her brothers, but she had Nessie's same curly bronze hair.

After seven minutes I knew Nessie was doing her best to hold our daughter, but it was draining her. She had to prop her up, off of her stomach, and I knew she was already weak from the delivery and the loss of blood. She couldn't really keep this up much longer.

"All right, honey, you've held her. Now, please take a break. After some more pain meds and blood you'll feel much better. And in a little while, when you're feeling better you can hold her again."

She reluctantly agreed and handed me back our daughter. We again hadn't even thought of names, just like with David. I guess that'll have to come later.

* * *

By the next day Nessie's condition had dramatically improved. She was recovering as nicely as could be expected with a giant hole ripped in her stomach, thanks to me. I still felt awful for what I'd done, but Nessie kept assuring me that I did nothing wrong and was exactly what she would have told me to do if she was able to get the words out at the time, between screams.

"So where is the little munchkin?" Charlie asked, about two seconds after entering Billy's house. We still hadn't picked out a name yet, but everyone had an opinion.

I made a list in order of everyone's favorites. Of course we'd called the Cullen's, to let them know Nessie and the baby were alive and doing well, (I hadn't gone into greater details, there would be time for that later), and they of course had to offer their suggestions as well. However, some were just ridiculous, in my opinion.

**Sarah**, after my mother – Nessie had suggested it, but I quickly rejected that. I loved my mother but I didn't want to connect the sadness I felt towards her passing to the happiness given by the birth of my daughter,

**Carlie**, Nessie's middle name,

**Elizabeth**, Eddie's mother's name,

**Marie**, Bella's middle name, and her Grandmother's first name (I think),

**Mary**, Alice's actual first name

**Alicia**, after Alice, but too close

**Emma** – I thought it was pretty, but didn't want to think of Emmett every time I looked at my daughter,

**Charlotte**, after Charlie, not bad but no,

**Roseanna** – yuck,

**Willamina**, after my father – Um, No!

**Jasparella** \- Alice had thought of that one – really? NO!

The list went on and on, and got weirder and weirder as the more people's opinions we asked, a lot were distorted family members names to newer, occasionally stranger versions.

We hadn't named David after anyone, and I was thinking that we should do the same with our daughter, and just go with something traditional.

I wonder what Charlie will have to add?

"I'm just finishing giving her a bottle, Great-Gramps. Do you want to hold her when she's done feeding?" David asked. He was such a good big brother to her and had already bonded with his baby sister, more than I could have ever hoped for.

Charlie was still getting use to the idea of being, in all likelihood, the world's youngest Great-Grandfather to David, the fact that it happened again, and so soon was a bit shocking to him. But he was dealing with it as well as could be expected, I guess.

"Err, sure. Wow... David? Look at you. But... wow, just... huh. You're all grown up." Charlie seemed more than shocked looking at David's appearance. He'd seen him during Christmas, but that was almost four months ago, David had aged five or six years since that time. They video chatted online almost every day, but seeing him in person, added to that David's current 6'2" height, must have made it more real for Charlie. "Guess it's to be expected in this family," he chuckled to himself.

"No, he's not all grown, Grandpa. He's still my little boy, even if he's already taller than me," Nessie countered, waking from her nap.

"Nessie, you need your rest, why don't you go back to sleep, honey. We've got everything taken care of right now."

"No, I'm fine, Jake. I slept enough. I want to spend some time with my Grandfather."

"Alright, honey, just take it easy."

"So Grandpa, how's everything going?" she asked though a yawn.

"Oh you know same as usual. Not much happens around here."

Yeah, right! Even though Charlie was now in on the whole supernatural secret, he still preferred to keep some of his "Need to Know" attitude, and wasn't kept informed of all of the Vampire patrols Jared's Pack did, to keep life nice and safe for the humans around Forks.

"Oh, Renée's been calling." He looked like he was happy he thought of something to talk about. "She's been trying to call Bella but is pretty frustrated. Says that her number isn't working anymore. It's been reassigned to some fifty-something stock analyst."

"I'm sorry that you're the one who has to deal with this, Grandpa; that it all got dumped on you."

Nessie was right. Renée couldn't be let in on the family's secret and that meant that she couldn't be part of her daughter's life anymore.

And unfortunately that meant that Charlie was left dealing with the explanations, not that he could actually tell her anything. He had to play dumb too. But right now was really not the time to bring this up.

"What did you tell her?" Nessie asked Charlie.

"Nothing much," he huffed.

"Are you upset you finally found out the whole truth, Grandpa?"

"You're not asking me if it would have been better if you had disappeared out of my life, too, are you? Cause I'm glad I know, even if it does mean that I'm now related to a bunch of mythical monsters," he chuckled.

"Charlie, maybe you should have this conversation with Bella." It wasn't right for him to be complaining to Nessie, right now, not after everything she'd just been through. And though he didn't mean to I know he just upset Nessie more, calling her… all of us, monsters. Charlie hadn't meant anything by it, but Nessie always got upset at that kind of thing.

"Yeah, um, maybe you're right," he replied after seeing the scowl on my face, and the hurt on hers.

Just then Emily held the front door open as Sam carried in a crib. It was filled with a bunch of baby items, including onesies, blankets, bottles and everything else we wound need for the next couple of days.

"Hey, thanks for doing this guys," I said to them.

"It's no problem Jake, it was just taking up space in the attic anyway," Sam replied.

It was nice of them to bring all of their kids old stuff. I had been planning on heading over to the store in Forks, in the next couple of days and buy whatever we would need, but this stuff would come in handy in the meantime. With Nessie needing to feed so much beforehand I hadn't had time to buy anything before the baby came. And now I just wanted to make sure Nessie was really out of the woods, and there was no chance she was going to take a turn for the worse, before I left. I know it was silly, she was a Half-Vampire after all. She was healing exceptionally fast, and I was pretty sure she would be fine.

Looking through the crib I noticed that everything Sam and Emily brought was for a baby. Our daughter would only be a baby for another few days, most likely. I was still going to have to go shopping, but instead of baby supplies I'd need to buy a bunch of toddler clothes, toys, and a bed, among other things.

* * *

My daughter was growing exceptionally fast, and just like David, would only drink herbivore blood.

It has been a challenge to get Nessie enough deer blood before the delivery and now Jared's Pack was roaming the entire Washington seaboard and hauling back the poor creatures for my family to feed from. Hopefully there won't be a significant population decrease, and the local deer population will be able to recover enough from our short stint here.

David wanted to do his part too for his mother and newborn baby sister. He'd fallen in love with her as much as the rest of us had. She was truly remarkable, just like Nessie. He went to the store with me to pick up everything we needed for his little sister yesterday and today he was out with Jared's Pack getting more deer blood.

I hadn't even had time to worry what the Pack and Tribal council would think of my family coming here. Not that I cared if they would be accepted or not. It was a matter of my Imprints safety and well being, not to mention her life. But Nessie had given birth to a Wolf, literally, so instead of being greeted with any hostility, it seemed that David, and his mother, and now our daughter, were perfectly welcome. Nessie had always needed an escort whenever she went on the Res, but no one said a peep this time about her or David.

It got me more than a little irked that Nessie wasn't instantly accepted in La Push back when I first Imprinted on her. But now that she'd given birth to a Wolf, now that she was the mother of a Wolf - she was.

I know it had been mostly Old Quil, and Sam, who had objected back then, but what exactly did they think was going to happen? Weren't children the natural outcome of Imprinting? Didn't they think we would procreate eventually? Or did they think she would give birth to some sort of mutant Vampire spawn killing machine?

I guess so.

That was what Sam, and the rest of his Pack, had thought Nessie would be, before she was born.

Hell, that was what Edward and I'd thought, way back then, too.

I was taken out of my musings when I heard it; a Wolf's howl. I knew exactly which Wolf it was. That was David's cry. Something was wrong and he would be unable to communicate telepathically with Jared's Pack. He wouldn't be able to let them know exactly what was happening, or what he'd seen, or even where he was if he'd gotten separated from them.

"Jacob, go!" Nessie urged me. I knew she recognized his howl too. She would be safe here. Kim and Emily were with her, checking in on her and our daughter. It went against my Imprint instincts to leave her if there was possible danger, but I had to, my son was out there, and he could be in danger. After just a second of hesitation I kissed my two angles on the forehead and then went outside to phase.

Instantly David's and my mind connected and I could see that he'd found the scent of a Vampire. I didn't want him risking going after it alone, like I could see that he wanted too. He was still just so young.

And what if it was one that the Cullen's considered our friends. What if it was one of the Denali's? They were family, sorta, and were perfectly harmless vegetarian Vampires, at least. But if a Wolf attacked them I don't know what would happen. Surely they would defend themselves.

Either way, red or yellow eyed Vamps, David was in danger. He'd never fought a Vampire before. Crap!

At least I recognized the area where he was and began running as fast as I could.

_David, I'm on my way. Stay where you are. Do not go after the scent. _

But as much as I yelled, his nature seemed to compel him to run towards it. I knew he hated Vampires and he seemed to want to rip it, whoever _it_ was, to shreds. It was almost compulsory for him.

_David stop! Wait for me to get there. _I kept screaming, over and over, in my head, to him. _We'll do this together. _But he wouldn't hear of it.

_Dad I'm almost at the leech. I can do this. _

_But you don't even know how many there are. There could be two or three, or more. You would be outnumbered. Wait until I'm there, _I yelled back.

I knew Jared's Packed was nearby – somewhere. But they couldn't talk to him in their mind, they didn't know exactly where he was, and he wasn't howling anymore, to give them any clues as to his current location. He was simply running towards the Vampires, towards the danger, towards his possible death.

_But they're too close,_ he tried reasoning with me. _They're too close to La Push. Too close to Mom. Too close my baby sister. I need to save them, protect them. _

_David, La Push is the safest place on the planet right now, against Vampires. There's no danger to them there. Two Wolves are _always_ there, guarding the Reservation. Nothing is going to hurt our family. Stay where you are, _I tried again, but was too late. He was now standing right in front of the Vampire. At least there was only one of them, I think. But it wasn't one of the Denali's. It wasn't a harmless, yellow-eyed Vampire. That would have been the best case scenario. This Vampire, that I'd never seen before, had red eyes and a murderous look in them. He wanted a fight as much as my son did.

David continued to do the exact opposite of what I was telling him - he lunged at the creature.

Damn-it!

I was still too far away. I wouldn't be able to make it to him, for another five to ten minutes, at least. Even running at top speed. The only thing I could do was watch on, in horror, as David fought his very first Vampire... alone.

_Jake, man. Can you hear me? Where's David?_

_Jared? _Oh right. Jared was Alpha of the La Push Pack now. I could communicate with him. But he couldn't see into my mind. He could only see what I chose to show him, Alpha to Alpha.

I quickly described to him David's current location, but he and the rest of the Pack were still far away, closer than me, but not close enough. It seemed that David had wandered away from the rest of them before even finding the Vampire scent.

Damn-it! Damn-it! Damn-it!

I could see every knock and hit David took. As painful as it was to watch I knew it was even more painful for David to experience. He was the one getting knocked into, and hit, and smashed into rocks and trees. I tried giving him some fighting tips, but could do little else. I wished, now that it was too late, that we had done more fight training in New Hampshire, but I just never thought this would have happened, at least not this soon. And now it was too late.

After a few minutes Jared and a couple of the other Wolves finally appeared, but the fight was over by the time they got there. His was gone, and the now lifeless body was lying on the ground; his head rolling around a few meters away, having been ripped off during the fight.

The Pack had all phased back and were now huddled around David, congratulating my son on a job well done.

A few minutes later I arrived.

"David don't you EVER do anything like that again!" I screamed at him, after phasing back, myself. Jared's Pack suddenly grew quiet and backed up a few feet as I ran up to my son. I was still thirty feet away, not bothering to wait to get closer; I was pissed. He'd ignored everything I'd said to him, completely disobeying me, putting his life in danger, going after a Vampire on his own.

"Dad, I'm fine. Don't worry, I'm perfectly alright. Chill out. The worst thing that happened was a stupid bite from the leech, but it just stings. You don't need to make such a big deal about things."

"What? He bit you? David, oh crap! We need to get you to a hospital or call Carlisle ASAP." Oh no. How did I miss that? What were we going to do? We were currently in the middle of nowhere.

"No Dad, really, it's fine," he tried reassuring me, but he didn't realize that Vampire venom was poisonous to Wolves. "Look the wound is already healing," he said, showing me his arm, where the bite mark was indeed quickly closing up, soon all that was left was a scar that too began to fade.

How was this possible?

Of course, it finally dawned on me, once I had calmed down enough to think straight. David was part Vampire and had his own Venom in the system. Another Vampire's venom didn't seem to do anything. Thank goodness.

After taking a deep sigh of relief, my attention turned back to my son's recklessness. But I saw the looks the other Wolves were giving me.

"We're going to have a long talk about your actions when we get home, young man. But right now we need to burn the body."

"Why do we need to burn it? I just kill the leech. Isn't that enough? Tore the bloodsuckers head clear off, after all." He was arrogant, but his attitude just highlighted how little he knew.

"No that's not enough! And you would know that if you stopped to listen to me for a second. Ripping his head off is not enough. He can put himself back together. You have to burn the body." I know I'd mentioned this to him before, I know I told him about all of the Tribes legends and stories, about the Cold Ones. A lot of the stories were full of myths, just because the Wolf parts happened to be true I guess there was a little bit of doubt in his mind that every single aspect of the stories were one hundred percent accurate. Hopefully this would convince him to take things more seriously.

Sometimes he really acted like a child. Then again, I couldn't really stay mad at him. He was technically only seven months old.

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading.

So what do you think of the possible baby names? Anyone like Jasparella?

Do you have any suggestions?


	11. Felicity

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Eleven**

**Felicity**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"Come on Dave it's time to go. Say goodbye to your new friends." We'd been in La Push for over a month and he wasn't looking forward to leaving.

Rachel had had her babies, beautiful twin girls, two weeks ago. Sarah (after my Mother, which was nice, since we hadn't named our daughter after her, I was glad she had) and Judy Lahote (after our Grandmother Judith Peterson). No hyphens needed this time. Paul and Rachel, unbeknownst to everyone until a few days ago, had run off to Las Vegas a couple of months ago and eloped. Billy was a combination of happy and pissed at them. Happy that they were married but pissed they had gotten hitched without him there to see it. But it was what Rachel had wanted, so what could he, or Paul, or anyone do?

Unlike Nessie, Rachel had a normal, uncomplicated delivery at the Forks hospital. Sue and Kim had offered to help her with the delivery at her home, like they did with Nessie, but she'd declined. She wanted a hospital, with doctors, and nurses, and drugs, and everything else that that entailed. I think Nessie's harrowing delivery had scared her. Emily and Kim understood.

Last Sunday, May 12th, we celebrated Nessie's very first Mother's Day. In the rush to get here, I'd neglected to bring her present, with me. Truthfully I never thought we would have stayed so long. But Nessie, being the wonderful angel that she was, understood. As soon as we get home, giving her her gift is the first thing I'm going to do.

In the meantime I'd filled the apartment, we'd ended up having to rent during our stay, with two thousand, four hundred, thirty-seven long stem roses, one for every day Nessie had been my Imprint, which was every day my angel had been alive, plus an extra one for each child she'd given me.

Two hundred three dozen roses had cleared out all of the flower shops, not only in Forks and La Push, but five of the surrounding towns as well. But it was worth it. The apartment smelled almost as good as my sweetheart.

Nessie was still recovering, so we couldn't do much, I had cooked her a special dinner that included all of her favorite foods, heavy on the strawberries, and a glass of deer blood to wash everything down with. Then we watched some of her favorite movies on the flat screen, until everyone fell asleep in front of the TV.

Before I'd agreed to fly home, Emily had assured me that Nessie had healed enough for her to travel. All she really needed to do was walk a few hundred feet, at most, and then sit in an airplane seat.

David and I'd been packing all morning. Our daughter was helping too. She appeared as old as a seven year old now, and had needed one, sometimes two new outfits every day to compensate for her rapid growth. There were a lot of clothes to pack, including the larger sizes I bought for her that she would grow into and out of just in the next week or two.

With all of the gifts our daughter had received and the massive amounts of clothes we needed to buy, the boxes were piling up. Even after returning to Sam and Emily their baby things, donating all of the other baby items I bought along with the clothes our daughter no longer fit in, and the furniture I bought for the apartment we were still returning home with much more stuff than we brought.

I was planning on giving the flat screen to Paul and Rachel when we left and let the rest of my family and Wolves have first pick at anything they wanted before David and I hauled the rest to the local thrift shop.

Last week I'd made the journey to Seattle to get some documents for our daughter so she would be able to board the plane.

It was a bit of a rush trip, in between Nessie's recovery, hunting to keep up with her and our daughters need for blood, teaching and entertaining our daughter (trying to fit an entire childhood into a few months left little time for anything else), and dealing with David's antics.

The waiting room was empty. Not only of people but much else. Sure there were a few chairs along the walls, but not much else. For as much as Jenks charged I expected some sort of high end swanky art on the wall, not the generic ocean landscape photograph that probably came with the frame. A quick glance at the coffee table showed a pile of magazines at least six months old. Whatever he did with all of his money, clearly he didn't spend it here.

I was about to give my name to the receptionist, when a short pudgy man walked out from what I assumed was the back office. This must have been the infamous Mr. J. Jenks. His head was stuck in a pile of papers, as he walked into the room, not bothering to look up as he put a few papers down at the reception desk, picked up another pile, searched through a small stack of post it notes and finally grabbed some phone messages before turning around and tripping over my feet.

Instinctively my hands shot out and caught him before he fell. And thanks to my enhanced reflexes was able to also catch all of the papers too.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, as I handed them over to him. It wasn't my fault he wasn't looking where he was going, and he did crash into me, but still…

He seemed a little spacey as he grabbed them, but I then realized he was preoccupied, staring at my shoes. My feet were in proportion to the rest of me, so I guess he wasn't use to seeing someone of my size. After clearing my throat his eyes slowly travelled up, and up, and up, until finally landing on my face.

His eyes grew very large.

"Oh, um... Mr. Wolfe," he exclaimed, after a moment. He must have recognized my face from the passport and license photo he'd made for Bella years ago. "My goodness, you are _really_ that tall. I had assumed Mrs. Cullen had exaggerated." Yup, looks like I was right. His voice seemed to stammer as he spoke and tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on his head.

"I'm only two inches taller than Emmett," I shrugged, trying and failing to put him at ease, while also reaffirming my connection to the Cullen's. "And um... my name's actually Jacob Black."

"Of course," he agreed, probably use to the many identities of the Cullens over the years. "Um... did we have an appointment?" he asked as he incredulously eyed his receptionist who just shook her head. "It's okay if we didn't," an uneasy smile now returned to his face. "I'm always happy to help the Cullen family."

"Great, cause I need some papers…" I probably should have called ahead to let Mr. Jenks know I was coming, but with everything going on it had slipped my mind.

"Let's take this into my office to discuss things in private," he quickly said, cutting me off and giving a weary look to his receptionist. Did she not know what he did for a living? Whatever.

Once seated in the aforementioned office I began again. "Mr. Jenks., I'm sorry about showing up here unannounced, but I need a few things." Nessie and I'd decided to get as much taken care of with this visit as possible. "First I need some papers for my daughter. A birth certificate, passport, and Social Security card."

"Of course. I'm going to need her name and date of birth. And a picture of her that you would like me to use, if you have one with you," he said, while picking up a pen and notepad to write everything down.

"Felicity... err, Blanche Cullen." Nessie and I'd talked about what our daughters name should be, but had only agreed on her first name for now. The middle and last might change.

We ended up naming our beautiful baby girl after all of the joy she'd given us. While Felicity had finally arrived in the early morning hours, just as the sun was rising in the midst of the chaos that surrounded her traumatic entry into the world, we wanted to give her a name that was befitting of the happiness she brought us. Her name literally meant _Good Fortune_ and _Happiness_. None of the other choices our friends and family offered seemed appropriate.

We hadn't named David after anyone, but what the name represented instead; we wanted to do the same with our daughter. In the little free time we had Nessie and I'd scoured the internet for options and looked in baby book, after baby book, that Emily, Rachel, and Kim had given us. The name we chose seemed perfect. Our daughter always seemed so happy and full of joy. How could we name her anything else?

However, we were still undecided about her exact middle and last names. There was a bit of disagreement about exactly what they should be. I thought her last name should remain Cullen. Nessie wanted it to be Black. In the end we compromised. David was Black and Felicity was Cullen, one each for their last names and then we switched things for her middle, choosing a feminine version of Black.

They were fake documents we were just making to board the plane anyway; we could always change them later if we changed our minds.

"You should probably have her age be around six or seven years old," I continued, getting back to Mr. Jenks questions. It was the age we thought she would look like when we would be leaving. "I'll have to email you a picture, if that's alright." We wanted to wait as long as possible with the picture so she had another week to age the necessary two years.

"Sure, that won't be a problem," he said but looked a little confused.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. No. I just thought you said this was your daughter."

"That's right. I did." What was wrong? Oh it must be that the last names were different. "Her Mother and I aren't married. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" I asked with a slight growl, to which he visible jumped.

"Oh no, of course not. That's not a problem at all. It's none of my business anyway." The sweat was really starting to build up now and he had to continuously dab his forehead with the pathetic little tissue he kept bundled in his free hand.

"Um, is there anything else I can help you with Mr. Black?" Jenks asked as he got up and went over to a non-descript filing cabinet standing against the far wall. He inserted a key to unlock the cabinet and opened the middle drawer all the way, before turning key in the opposite direction he initially had, and the drawer slid out another foot. The cabinet hadn't appeared that deep; it must have extended back into the wall.

Cool! A hidden compartment!

"I never trust computers for my special clients," he nonchalantly explained. "Yes, just as I thought. Your passport is about to expire. They're only good for seven years, you know. Would you be in need of a new one? Err, it doesn't look like it would be too difficult. I would just need to change the years. We could keep everything else the same, including the picture, apparently," he said more to himself than to me, I guess noticing how I still looked exactly the same as I did seven years ago.

Hmmm, would I need new ones right now? Once the children were older I wasn't sure if we would be moving to France with everyone else, if they were moving back to New Hampshire, if we all would be moving and changing our names, or staying put. I should probably talk to the rest of the family and see what everyone's plans were first.

"No, not at this time. But we would like to place an order for a couple of driver's licenses. One will be for our daughter, which we obviously won't need yet, but would like one for our son, David, soon."

"David?" He seemed confused.

"David Cullen Black." I reminded him. He'd just make his documents for us a few months ago, he couldn't have forgotten so quickly could he?

"You want a driver's license for your baby?"

Oh what the hell. He already was suspicious of the whole Cullen clan. I wasn't going to tell him anything he didn't already know, or at least suspect. "You may have noticed that those in our family tend to age _differently_ than others."

"Yes," he agreed throwing down the passport picture, from my file, he'd still been holding. "You seem to be as... well preserved as Mr. Jasper."

It was so strange hearing him say "Mr. Jasper" instead of just Jasper, or Mr. Whitlock, or Mr. Hale. Then it hit me. That was why he didn't. Jasper was probably the only consistent part of his name, always changing his last name from Whitlock to Cullen to Hale and whatever else he'd gone by over the years. Something I guess I would be doing too in the future.

"Oh, I don't know about that," I breezily replied. "Jazz has well over a century on me," I chuckled while handing over the photo of David I'd brought with me; no need to tell him either of our exact ages. "That's the picture for David's license," I continued, "but I'll have to get you one for Felicity in a few months when she appears old enough to drive. You can take your time on these, there's no rush for them. The other items, for Felicity, I'll need right away. Can I pick everything up for her next Friday?"

"That's a rush order..."

I could see he was going to go on and inform me about the additional costs, but Nessie already told be about what to expect, money wise, so I cut him off mid sentence. "Of course, but it can't be helped. Just let me know how much."

Internally I cringed but kept my expression relaxed and agreed to the price he wrote down, paid him his customary half now, with the cash I brought, then went to shake his hand where I saw him brace for the icy coldness of the Cullen's. He nearly jumped a foot in the air, as our hands touched and the heat my one hundred-eight degree body temp met him with.

"Nice doing business with you Jay," I chuckled again, releasing his hand and exiting the office. This was fun. Well funny. No wonder Bella had taken this over from Jasper.

I emailed him Felicity's picture, and picked up the documents a week later, just like I'd planned, but we never ended up using them. In a last minute decision it was agreed that our daughter, though not attracted to human blood, wasn't yet controlled enough with her thirst to risk locking her inside a plane with a bunch of humans. And she currently, needed to feed every hour or so, due to her rapid growth, just like David had.

"I can do it daddy," she told me, putting on a brave face. "If I have a big meal first, and we take a few planes, and we go hunt in between… I can do it. I know I can."

She said she could tough it out on the plane ride, but I could see the fear in her eyes, and we didn't want to put her through that; we didn't want her to suffer needlessly, so we decided to make a cross country road trip.

I had to rent a fairly large van to fit everything. We packed a cooler with as much deer blood as we could fit and would hunt on the way home when it ran out.

I thought this trip would be fun. We could see the country and stop at some nice hotels at night. And I was hoping to cheer up David on the way back.

"Dave here's the last box; can you put it in the van, while I go get your Mother?"

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay here!" He was having a much harder time leaving than his sister. I'd thought she was going to be the problem. While it had only been a month, it was her entire life, technically a large chunk of her childhood.

On the Reservation our children didn't have to be kept in the house all of the time, like David pretty much had to in New Hampshire. With so many Wolves around they could have actually friends. They could go to the beach, or hike in the woods, and not worry (to an extent). The kids had made friends over the past month and didn't want to leave them. David loved hanging out with Jared's Pack and our daughter got along great with Claire and Quil.

But as much as they liked it here we really had to leave. This wasn't our home. We didn't belong here. We'd stayed longer than I'd ever intended and I didn't want a bunch of young teenage boys phasing into Wolves for the first time. I didn't want our presence here to disrupt their lives. Hopefully we hadn't already done that.

"Son, you know we can't. We have to go home." He seemed so upset and determined, more than I was prepared for.

"But I love it here. La Push already feels more like home than New Hampshire ever did. Can't we stay?"

"You know we can't. I'm not sure what a prolonged exposure to your Mother's Vampire half would do. Right before she and I left Forks with the rest of the Cullen's, back when your Mom was just a year old, every boy who could turn into a Wolf already had, so there was no danger of anyone else turning. But we've been gone for enough years now that there's a new crop of teenage boys who are old enough to Phase for the first time, and we don't know how much Vampire exposure will set off the Wolf gene, especially if we stay here any longer. But I promise we can return for another short visit... someday."

"But -"

"Dave, I'm sorry, but the answer is no," I cut him off. There was no point in discussing it. We _had_ to leave.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

We were home!

Jake and I had taken turns driving, while the other slept; nighttime was needed for hunting. We'd stored as much blood as we could for Felicity and David, so they could feed and we wouldn't have to constantly pull over, but always ran out and had to stop at least once, sometimes twice a day, in addition to hunting at night for them.

The trip had taken us almost two weeks and I was sick of the cramped car. I wanted my bed and to sleep for a solid eight to nine hours. And as much as I loved him, I really couldn't listen to David anymore. He whined, and complained, and pouted, and argued the entire way. It was constant at first, and while I thought he would start to realize we weren't going to be turning around the further we traveled and begin to accept things, the opposite seemed to be true and his verbal assault only increased. His mood had soured the further east we drove, and he made what could have been a pleasant sightseeing trip absolutely miserable.

"Who's that?" Felicity asked. We were over three miles from the house, it had just come into view, and there were a crowd of people standing around the front door.

"Bloodsuckers," David scowled when we got close enough to make out the figures.

"That's the other side of your family, honey," Jake replied, ignoring our son, and continuing down the long driveway to the house. We'd have to talk to him… again, but right now I just needed a break.

While in La Push we'd continued to Skype daily with my family, introducing them to Felicity, and keeping them in contact with David, but now that we were back home, in New Hampshire, I was surprised to see that they were here waiting for us.

"We won't stay long, but everyone wanted to meet Felicity and we missed you and wanted to spend a day or two catching up," my mother told me after they greeted all of us, and emptied the van for us. I didn't want them to leave but she assured me that they were just going to visit with everyone for a bit, see how I was doing, meet my daughter, then they planned to return to France.

Felicity didn't seem to have the same aversion to Vampires that her brother did. While David instinctively hated them, she found my family curious with their cold body temperature, rock hard skin that shimmered in the sunlight, and lack of a heartbeat. And she found it fascinating how long they could hold their breath, which was technically forever if they didn't mind never talking or feeding again, that is. She couldn't get enough of them, asking question after question, for hours on end.

Carlisle had requested that he check me over, to make sure I was recovering, and (I suspect) that my La Push delivery team didn't screw anything up.

Giving birth to my daughter was almost as destructive on my body as it had been having David.

Almost.

It was definitely worth it. I know Jake had freaked out, but he'd missed how much worse I'd been after David had phased out of me. While no one thought it would have been a good idea to tell Jake back then, knowing how he would react, in truth I'd nearly died, if not for my Grandfather, and Father's massive efforts. With Felicity, I'd merely passed out from the pain and blood loss. And I would deal with the ache again a hundred times, if necessary, because now I have a beautiful daughter added to my family.

Felicity was still pestering my family with questions as I followed my Grandfather into his office, and when I came out, Emmett was entertaining her outside by seeing how many cars he could lift over his head at once.

"NESSIE!' Aunt Alice shouted from somewhere inside the house. "What color do you want your new bedroom to be?"

"What new bedroom?" I asked as I ran back into the house. What was she up to?

Two days later she was finally happy with all of my choices and had begun turning everything into a reality. Claiming that I was still recovering, and not physically up to it, I got to bow out of the physical labor. I felt bad for lying, being almost at a hundred percent, but I needed a break.

With the house being a construction site I decided to do a little light reading with Felicity on the front porch.

"Hi Leah, what are you doing here?" I asked as I saw her car pull up a short while later. Did Jake forget to mention that she was coming over today? She never seemed to like me that much, but I hoped that would change, eventually.

"Are you kidding Nessie? I'm here to see my new niece, of course." Her eyes were darting around rather uneasily, instead of looking at Felicity, who was sitting right next to me. Did I really bother her that much? "So where's everybody else?"

"Jake and David are out hunting and my parents went with them."

"Oh really, how's that going? I thought David didn't really like leeches... err, I mean Vampires."

"He's still... getting use to them. I'm just happy he's trying." Okay, that was technically a bit of a stretch, but he wasn't attacking anyone. "I think he might be most at ease with my parents since he's actually related to them. And he no longer seems to be terrified, like he was when he was a child. Just more of an inborn hatred now," I sighed.

He mostly just complained about their smell now. Jacob tried to placate him, trying to convince David that he would get use to it, just as he had.

"No kidding," Leah seemed to resign herself to the truth as well as the rest of us had. "So where is everyone else?"

"Aunt Alice has taken it upon herself to completely redo the house now that Felicity's here, she and Aunt Rose and Grandma Esme are off shopping. All the guys are inside moving the furniture around. Jake and I are going to be moving into my parent's old bedroom, while our old room is being converted into a bedroom for Felicity." They'd finished painting everything yesterday.

"Oh really? So is Nahuel being his normal unhelpful self and breaking everything?" she chuckled.

That was a little harsh. The only time he ever broke anything was when the two of them were fighting; which was every time they saw each other. That must be why she was acting so weird, hoping not to run into him.

But he wasn't here. He and Jennifer had left some time during the month that we were gone. I found the note he'd left saying how he wanted to have his Aunt and Jennifer get better acquainted, but he assured us that they would be returning soon.

"Actually, he and Jennifer haven't returned yet, they're still in South America, visiting his Aunt Huilen. We're not sure exactly when we'll be expecting them back. Did you see him before he left? Did he say anything to you?" I wasn't even sure when they had gone, exactly. Our departure was so abrupt, we barely had time to say goodbye.

"Like I'd voluntarily talk to him. Sorry never going to happen," she snorted. "Just be sure you give me a warning, and let me know the minute he's back, so I can prepare myself for the next time I have to see him."

"Yeah, sure. No problem," I responded as she looked around again a little unsure what to do next, so I thought I'd help her out. "Felicity, I'd like you to meet your Greataunt Leah. She's a Wolf just like your Father and brother."

"Really, I thought only boys were Wolves," Felicity questioned, her eyes growing wide in amazement.

"Well, yep, but it's just me, I'm the only freak She-Wolf," Leah chuckle back.

Huh? A laugh? She normally got upset at being reminded that she was the only female Wolf. I wonder what changed in her? Not that I would get an answer, so I didn't even bother asking out loud.

Leah ended up staying and talked with Felicity for a little while longer. I think she was upset that she missed out on seeing my daughter as a tiny baby, though.

Eventually the entire Cullen clan, minus Jake and David who were still out hunting, returned home. Before long Leah said she had to leave for her shift at the bar, but she promised to return soon and to bring Seth back, too, so he could meet his new Grandniece.

Felicity couldn't wait. And I was sure David wouldn't mind having another Wolf around.

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading, Please review.


	12. David's Difficulties

**The Pink Moon**

* * *

**Year Seven, Chapter Twelve**

**David's Difficulties**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"So I hear you have a gift similar to my own, little lady," Jasper said as he sprang lightly onto the couch beside where Felicity was sitting. Everyone was over my Aunts and Uncles house, except for David who was out running as a Wolf with Leah.

My family had been with us for a few days now. Felicity loved my Vampire side of the family, her family, all of them. She was my little ball of sunshine. I was so happy. This was how it was supposed to be, how I hoped it would be with David. Maybe... someday he would feel the same about them as she did. I could only hope.

"I don't think it's exactly the same," she replied.

"I'm sure you're right. No two gifts ever are. But if you don't mind, could you tell me exactly what it is that you can do?"

"I'm not sure exactly. But I think it's the opposite of what my Mom does, in a way. She can show people her thoughts and feelings. I think I can see people's inner selves when I touch them. It's not their thoughts or feelings I'm seeing exactly, more the soul or spirit of the person, I think. But people are always changing. Their thoughts and experiences influence who they are, so what I see one day may change the next, depending on what happened to them."

Everyone in the room seemed to grow more interested now. I knew my Mother believed Vampires had souls, but I don't think the rest of my family did, at least not completely. Maybe Felicity would prove them wrong.

"So you don't feel their emotions, but their essences? That's remarkable. That would allow you to know instantly, just with one touch, whether a person, or Vampire, was good or not?"

"More like if they were up to any good or not, I guess," she corrected. "But someone could be a perfectly law abiding citizen one week, and then have something tragic happen and then decide to rob a bank the next."

"I'm curious, what would you get if you touched my hand?"

"I could try to tell you, but it's hard to describe, to put into words, not just for you, but for everyone."

"That's all right, darling. Just do the best you can," Uncle Jasper said as he placed his hand in my daughters.

"I don't think you want me to say, not in front of everyone," she whispered to him after seeing... whatever it was she got from touching him.

"It's all right. I've nothing to hide," he assured her.

"Alright, but I warned you," she began before taking a deep breath. "You're full of love and hate. They seem to duel inside of you. You love Alice, but hate yourself, well part of yourself. It feels like you spend each day trying to be good, trying not to be the monster that you fear you truly are. That you hope everyday that no one figures out your secret. You don't feel like you will ever be worthy of her, but have long come accept that her love for you is unconditional, as yours is for her. You feel like every day, all you do, it's all a charade, but Jasper, you really are good. You work harder, try harder than anyone in the family, to be so."

"Hmmm. You got all of that, just from touching me?"

"Yes," she replied a bit sheepishly. "That's actually just the beginning of what I saw."

"Well it's very impressive, and very accurate." He paused for a moment, then his small smile grew even larger on his face. "I was thinking that you, and your gift, might be able to help us convince your brother that we're not a threat him."

"I've already tried that," Felicity shrugged. "He doesn't believe me."

"There wouldn't be any harm in trying again, would there?" my Grandfather asked her. "If no one has any objections that is," he asked while looking around the room. No one seemed against the idea.

"Maybe we shouldn't make it look too obvious though, he might take it as an attempt to deceive him. I suggest that the next time we're all together, perhaps tonight after your dinner, one of us suggests a demonstration of your gift, like I just did, and we all request one."

"That's a great idea Jazz," my Father agreed. "Nessie, Jacob, do you think you will be able to convince him to come over here?"

"Don't worry. He'll be here," Jake replied.

I wasn't sure how he was planning on making that happen but whatever he said worked because later that night, David came with us over to my Aunts and Uncles old house, where the entire Cullen part of the family was gathered.

Just like we planned Felicity went around the room reading everybody in front of David. I hoped this would work. Nothing else seemed to. All of our attempts to get him to embrace his Vampire family had failed. He wasn't frightened or _openly_ hostile to them anymore, but he wasn't exactly friendly or loving, either.

According to Jake, taking down the Vampire in Washington all by himself gave him a new sense of confidence. His fear was gone, but the anger and hatred still remained.

When Felicity was done reading everyone they all nonchalantly glanced at David. It wasn't very subtle but Felicity had good things to say about everyone. This might work.

"That was amazing, Felicity," my Mother exclaimed, breaking the silence.

"This doesn't change anything!" David seethed.

Crap! I hope he wasn't going to phase right in the living room.

"Don't you think I knew what you were doing sis? What all of you were doing?" David started stomping around the room as he became more and more agitated. "Just because no one here has killed anybody _recently_ doesn't mean you don't get thirsty. It's your nature to _EAT_ people, no matter how hard you try not to. It's like telling me not to breathe. No matter how hard I try, eventually I'm going to give in to the pain in my chest. The need for air is just as bad for me as the pain in your throat, and the need for human blood, is for you. No matter how hard I try, eventually I'll stop holding my breath and do what my body is urging me to. It's only natural. We all give in. I'll take a breath and you'll drink," he said before storming off.

"You drink blood too, dude." Uncle Emmett called back to my son. "So does your sister, and your Mother." It was true. If that was his main objection to the Vampire side of his family his reasoning had a giant hole in it.

That was enough to make my son stop in his tracks and partially come back into the room, or at least the doorway. "We aren't monsters," he said pointing to himself and Felicity.

"Neither are we," Aunt Rose almost spat. No matter how much she loved him, she was growing impatient with his attitude.

Just like I had hoped/feared David's crush on her seemed to have disappeared the moment he was reunited with my Aunts natural Vampire smell.

Well this evening seemed to be a failure. David took off without a look back, but my Father assured me he was just going back to our house to cool off.

* * *

After a week Aunt Alice had completed her transformation of the house and everyone's closets had been completely restocked. Of course David had hated having her and the rest of the family in there, _infecting_ everything with their smell. She left his room as it was and just ordered him a bunch of new clothes online so she wouldn't touch them. I assured him we would air out the house again as soon as they left, but he was still pissed.

I eventually got David to begrudgingly give his Greataunt a thank you, at least. He was civil enough to her when she taught him online, why couldn't he be in person? She still looked hurt but the rest of us thanked her, and the rest of the family, profusely for all of their efforts.

I think Aunt Alice went a little overboard with Felicity's new clothes. Since my family was planning on returning to France, and Felicity grew so quickly, Aunt Alice had bought enough clothes, in enough sizes to last her into adulthood – next year. In the meantime I wasn't sure where we were going to actually put them all.

I was hoping my family would stay longer this visit but David's behavior was making it impossible. Clearly he wasn't doing as well as we'd hoped with them here. And the stunt we had Felicity pull, with her gift, had made everything worse.

And then there was Uncle Jasper. For some reason David was still terrified of him.

Al least my family promised to return for my, my mother's, and David's birthdays in September.

My Father wasn't entirely comfortable leaving before Nahuel and Jennifer had returned, but I overheard Seth and Leah promise him that one of them would stop by to check in on us, every day or two.

Sheesh, my Father was overprotective, but he and the rest of the family still went back to France a few days later.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

David.

Argh!

What was I going to do with that boy?

We were still working on my sons attitude towards his Vampire half of the family, and we were continuing to teach him, and Felicity, as much as we could for what they would need to know in life – school work, not only what the Cullen's taught them online, but Nessie and I contributed too, and the kids absorbed everything just as fast as Nessie had, and read just as fast as she did too, reading the entire Cullen library just as Nessie had.

We also specifically made it a point to work on the kids manners. Felicity seemed a natural but we didn't want to single Dave out, though he did seem to need a lot of work on it.

Then there was all the life experiences we tried to cram into them. We were doing the same as I and Esme had done with Nessie growing up, only greatly accelerated – having our kids watch TV shows, take short trips to stores, parks, and restaurants to interact with humans, besides engaging in mock social interactions at home.

Things were slowly improving, I think.

As much of a challenge as it was, sometimes, I loved my growing family. Well, I guess we were technically done growing. Nessie would be turning seven in under a month and would no longer be able to have any more children. But we didn't need any more. We had a son and a daughter. Our life was complete.

Felicity and I'd spent the morning on a nice leisurely hunting trip. David was trying to get more use to human food, not liking having been compared to the Cullen's in that way, and had declined to come this time.

He was still growing, and would probably need to hunt within the next day or two, but for now he claimed his thirst was fine and wanted to finish reading the new novel he'd picked up the other day. I knew he was trying to deny his Vampire side and once he stopped aging next year would probably attempt to give up blood completely if he could; even though he despised human food. I was his Father, and could see inside his Wolf mind. I knew how much he needed and loved animal blood.

Nessie was off meeting with our intermediary, Jack Fisher, the go between guy, for us and Seth. Seth still didn't know we were the ones employing him to flip houses. Everything had been going great, we were on our third house and not only had we paid Seth very well, more than he needed, we'd actually made a profit on the sales of the homes.

But as good as we thought everything was going, something must have been wrong because Fisher had called us the other day. There was some problem and he needed to talk to one of us in person.

I tried calling Seth last night to casually snoop, and hope he might bring up whatever problem it was that he was having. But it didn't work; he didn't mention anything.

Nessie decided to go, while I stayed home with the kids. The office she was meeting Fisher at was over a two hour drive away. Worried about possible traffic, she'd left just after 10:30 this morning, in order to be there in plenty of time for their 1pm meeting.

Then I got a text.

* * *

**June 1**

Won't be home till after dinner

Eat without me

Love u all

3:17pm

* * *

Whatever was going on it looked like it was going to take some time to work everything out.

I knew the kids missed their Mother, even her being gone these few short hours, this was the first time they had spent any real time away from her.

"What's this?" Felicity asked, holding up a piece of paper that had been lying on the mantle. "Oh no," she started screaming. "You have to go, you have to stop him."

"What's wrong?" We'd just walked into the house. What could have gotten her so upset so quickly?

She handed me the note that caused all of her panic. David had taken off. According to the letter he wanted to go "home", back to La Push.

Damn-it! Felicity and I had been out hunting for the past few hours. How long ago did Dave even leave?

I called Jasper, in France, who did a quick credit card transaction check and found out that my sons flight had left over hour ago. It looked like I was going to be making a trip back to Washington.

I didn't want to leave my daughter home alone, even if Felicity did look like a teenager, now. Apparently our children's rapid growth had little to do with the Wolf gene (at least the phasing part of it anyway) and more to do with Nessie's Vampire side. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, neither was Carlisle, but Felicity had allowed him to take a sample of her blood, before he left, to conduct some tests. She was only four months old, even if she did look fourteen, just like her brother did at that age, yet she'd never phased.

I gave Seth and Leah a quick text, hoping one of them would be available to swing by, just until Nessie got home. Seven minutes later Seth texted back. He was nearby and would be at the house in about twenty minutes.

The first flight to Washington left Boston's Logan Airport in two hours. I was going to have to hurry to catch it.

Crap!

After only slightly breaking the speed limit I arrived at the airport parking lot. I'd already left Nessie a voicemail explaining everything that was going on, but she must have turned her phone off for the meeting.

I'll have to call her when I land in Washington.

* * *

Even before I was able to pull the rental car into Billy's driveway I heard the unmistakable sound of Wolves howls.

I had a feeling that whatever the reason behind the howls, weather good or bad, my son was involved so once parked I leapt out of the car and immediately ran toward the sound.

When I saw what all the howling was for I was momentarily immobilized in shock. Two Wolves, David and Jared, were fighting. And not play fighting, like I'd seen them do sometimes. They were really fighting.

What the hell happened?

Since Jared and I were both Alphas, and David was in my Pack, I could hear both of them once I phased.

_Do something about your son, Jake!_ Jared yelled into my head. He didn't want to hurt him, but what David was doing, or trying to do, was wrong. I completely agreed. What was my son even thinking?

_DAVID, STOP! _I screamed at him and he froze dead in his tracks. I hadn't meant to use the double timbre of an Alpha command. I'd never done that before, and here I was, using it, for the first time, on my own son. I immediately regretted it, not that I'd done it intentionally. I just needed him to stop doing what he was doing. To stop him attacking Jared.

_What did you do to me? Why can't I move? _

Of course as soon as Dave asked me, he could see in my mind what had happened; how I'd taken away his free will. But that just made his desire for what he wanted even stronger.

He wanted his own Pack, Jared's Pack. He wanted to be Alpha.

_It's my birthright. _

_No, David. Jared is Alpha. He's been a Wolf for years. You haven't even been alive for one. _

_ But this feels right, _he snarled. I understood what he was talking about - the desire to fight, to lead, to take control. I first felt it when I originally broke from Sam's Pack, and stepped up as an Alpha myself, for the first time. The desire to fight Sam, to challenge him, had been overwhelming back then.

With David immobilized, Jared took his Pack away, so I could deal with my son.

This had gone on long enough. I thought I was doing good, being a good parent, letting my son enjoy his limited childhood, by being more lenient with him than I should have been. But I finally saw how he'd been taking advantage of me, and his mother, and everyone else; and how wildly out of hand it had gotten.

Well it stops now!

Even now David was still trying to break out of my Alpha command. I could see him tiring himself out as he fought it. There was no way I was letting him move until he got control, calmed down, and began to listen.

_I don't want to do this to you._

_Then let me go!_ David growled back.

_Not until you stop fighting me._

He didn't. Not at fought and fought and fought. It wasn't until he collapsed from exhaustion that I felt comfortable enough to release him. And only then on the condition that he behave himself.

After we both phased back I took him to Billy's to talk.

"I'm never going to be Alpha, am I Dad?" David sadly asked me after collapsing on my dad's couch.

Did he really want that? I never did, so it was hard for me to see anyone else coveting it. It was a lot of responsibility to take on, for one thing.

But after his little _temper tantrum_ today I guess he did. "Of course you are. What makes you say that?" I questioned.

"How exactly do you expect that to happen? It's not like you could ever step down. You're never going to stop phasing, so you're always going to be the Alpha of whomever is under you - Leah, Embry, me, and I don't know who else. When is it going to be my turn?" He paused for a second, and huffed, before adding, "I feel like I'm supposed to be Alpha."

He was right. As my son, he should have been next in line to be Alpha, and technically Chief of the Tribe. But, I left our ancestral home to go live with a bunch of Vampires. I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do for me, but it wasn't the right thing for him. And since I was going to continue phasing, to stay with Nessie, forever; as long as she was alive, that was, which I hoped would be forever, that meant I wouldn't age, grow old, and retire someday… never making way for him to take over.

"And you won't let me take my rightful spot as Alpha of the La Push Pack," he continued.

"The 'La Push Pack', as you call it is Jared's Pack. He earned the right to be Alpha of that Pack, and from what I've seen, he's a good Alpha. He was second in command, under Sam, and took over when Sam stepped down."

"So?" David shook his head. "He wasn't born to be an Alpha. I was."

"It doesn't matter. I know those guys. No one will follow you if you try to take it by force anyway. And you know we can't stay in La Push. You _know_ that."

"No, I don't know that. I don't know why we can't. I'm more Wolf than Vampire. We were here for a month and nothing happened. There aren't any new Wolves that phased. It feels like I'm supposed to be here. Like this is my home. I can feel it in my blood. I don't want to go back to New Hampshire."

It was strange looking at my son. He wasn't even a year old, technically, even though he appeared almost the same age as me, in his early twenties at least. He still had over a year, according to the timetable Nessie and I'd worked out, until he stopped aging.

"You're wrong about that. It hasn't happened yet but it looks like Brady's little brother, Scott, had a growth spurt right as we were leaving. He's probably going to phase soon." I was pretty sure the Wolf gene had been activated in him. I hadn't wanted to admit it to myself at the time, but the signs we unmistakable. He was nearing 6' tall the day before we'd left. I'd told Jared to keep an eye on him and he'd in turn given me updates. All of the Wolves were just waiting for him to phase. It would probably happen in the next month or two.

"And you think that was my doing?"

I knew he didn't see being a Wolf as a bad thing; he loved it and would probably prefer if all of the La Push boys changed into Wolves.

"No, you're a Wolf. Even with venom in your system you probably wouldn't set off the change, but your Mother is another matter."

"How do you know it was her? It could have been because of that leech I killed."

"Dave, that Vampire was nowhere near the Res. You were so far away when you caught him, and he was most likely just passing through, there was nothing from him to set anything off. Scott never saw or smelled the Vampire. He didn't witness anything. It was your Mother." He gave in to the same realization.

"Look I'll make a deal with you. Come back home with me and we'll come back here once a year, to visit. As long as you agree not to try to take over Jared's Pack. It's not right and you know it."

"But I was born to be an Alpha Wolf. You know it, I know it, hell," he huffed, "even Jared knows it."

Yikes, this was going to be harder than I thought.

* * *

It was three days before I saw Nessie again.

Three... very… long… days… dealing with David, convincing him he couldn't stay in La Push, couldn't be Alpha (at least not yet, who knows what may happen in the future) and couldn't – well he just couldn't.

And it had been three even longer night's without my soulmate. It'd been years since we'd slept apart, if you don't count the time apart during the whole Joham ordeal. After the stress and turmoil of the past three days I needed some alone time with my Angel, and really just wanted to take her in my arms, drag her into our bedroom, and not come out again until... one of our kids found us.

I'd called Nessie right before we'd boarded the plane and again once we landed. She let me know that she and Felicity were in the parking lot, waiting in the car to pick us up.

The ride back to the house was tense. Not only was I still pissed at David, so was Nessie, but what shocked me the most was that Felicity seemed angry with him as well. She was only two months old, and while she was normally so loving she looked like a nine year old, and occasionally had the temperament to match. But this was understandable. Her brother had left her. They were so close, but he'd taken off without a word.

No one spoke the entire car ride home.

Once we walked through the door Felicity ran upstairs to the library, David went to his room (I had let him know he was grounded shortly before we landed), and Nessie disappeared into the kitchen. I followed her.

"Hungry?" she asked me as she took out a container of strawberries from the frig, and began popping them into her mouth.

"I ate on the plane," I told her, but she just snorted and turned a knob on the stove to start heating up the oven, knowing that that would never be enough to fill me.

"So, how did your meeting go?" While I was in La Push she had met with Jack Fisher, the intermediary we used as a go between to communicate with Seth about anything having to do with the house flipping he didn't know we were paying him to do.

"Err," she popped another strawberry in her mouth and then buried her head in the frig, "well, um, we're going to have to find a replacement."

"Why, is something wrong with Jack?"

"Mr. Fisher has a broken wrist," she said a little too robotically for my liking, but it could have just been that she was loading her arms up with some carrots, chicken, potatoes, lemons, peppers, and a handful of other things.

"Do you need any help?" She shook her head. "It's awful that he broke his wrist, but I don't see why that would prevent him from doing his job." He just had to keep us up to date on Seth's progress fixing up whatever house he was currently working on, and relaying to Seth any ideas or concerns we had. "He didn't fall on the job site did he? He's not threatening to sue, or something, is he?"

"No, Jake, nothing like that." She turned away from me and started chopping up vegetables. "And I didn't say that Jack Fisher broke his own wrist, I broke it for him."

"What? Why?" I was unsuccessfully trying to stifle the growl that was escaping my throat. Did he try and touch my Nessie? If he did I was going to break a lot more than just his wrist.

"It doesn't matter," she shook her head. Her back was still to me and it suddenly occurred to me she hadn't once looked me in the eye since picking me up at the airport. "We won't have to deal with him again, but we do need to find someone to replace him. Do you think Grandma Esme has any ideas?"

"Hold on Renesmee. What happened? Exactly!?" She was avoiding the subject… and me. Neither of those were a good sign.

"I don't want to talk about it. And I told you, it doesn't matter. Don't get all worked up about it, honey."

"What did he do to you?" I seethed. I was trying not to raise my voice, trying not to yell. Whatever happened was apparently traumatic, and I didn't want to upset her anymore but I needed to know what happened. And she wasn't telling me.

She finally turned around. "To me? He didn't do anything to me, Jake. I was the one who broke his wrist." Her eyebrows were scrunching up the way they did when she got defensive.

Why was she trying to keep... whatever happened, from me? Didn't she know that the more she tried to hide it the worse my imagination got. The worse I assumed the truth of whatever happened was.

"And what was the reason that you felt the need to do that?"

"He was just... um, standing too close, and I -" Her eyes darted around the room.

"So you attacked him?"

"No, not at first." A shrug! That was all she gave me to explain herself? Was she kidding me?

"Nessie, I'm going to need more. What the hell happened?" Was she having flashbacks of her time with Joham? Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper warned me that something like that might happen. I'd just been waiting for the time when she broke down or freaked out. Some sort of post traumatic stress to the events of last year.

"He just... I didn't mean to... it just hit me all at once." A single tear started running down her cheek.

"Nessie, what's it? What are you not telling me? You know you can tell me anything," I smirked trying to put her at ease.

"He just smelled sooooo good. I tried holding my breath, but I'm not a Full-Vampire, I need to breathe, eventually. But I don't know why it even happened. I've met him before, many times and have never been affected by his scent before like I was the other day."

"He smelled good?" Did that mean was she attracted to him? No that couldn't be it. I knew that Vampires and Half-Vampires mated for life; she was mine just as much as I was hers. So what was she trying to tell me then? "Did you try to feed on him?"

"Yes… almost," she replied as her gaze fell to the floor, refusing to look into mine.

"So what? To stop yourself you... what? Decided to maim him?" None of this was making any sense.

"Jake, I'm sorry." She broke down into sobbing tears. "I know I'm a horrible person. No, I'm not even a person. I'm a monster. David is right. Vampires are evil. We're not good. I almost ate him and I don't even know why. I've been feeding regularly. I don't know what happened."

She seemed so distraught. How had she held things together until now?

"But he's alive," I tried to reassure her, wrapping her in my arms as she sobbed. "You didn't bite him, did you?" She wasn't venomous so even if she did he would still be alive, it would make things more complicated though. But she shook her head. "That's good. But you must have done something to stop yourself."

"Don't give me so much credit, Jake. He threw up his arms to stop me from attacking him. I was centimeters from biting his neck when he started screaming out in pain. I hadn't even realized that I broke his wrist until then. His anguished cries were what stopped me, not something I did."

"But you stopped?" I think it came out more as a question, but was meant to be a statement.

"Yes, but just barely. And now... he thinks... well, I don't know exactly what he thinks. But he's terrified. I think he's too scared to do or say anything, though."

I pushed her away from me, but only so I could look her in her eyes, I still held onto her arms, wanting to make sure she knew I was there for her. "Maybe I should go talk to him, sweetheart. Just to be sure. And, I don't know, pay him off if needed, I guess." That's what Eddie had to do when I broke that jerks, Rob's jaw, at school. At least he had it coming, Fisher was innocent. "Does anyone else know about what happened? Was anyone else there to see?"

"No," she sniffed. "We were alone in his office and he swore he wouldn't say anything. I think, besides being scared of me, he's a little embarrassed he got beat up by a girl."

"I'll call him tomorrow, to set something up. But I think we need to talk about why you went for his blood in the first place."

"I called my Dad while you were still in La Push. The family talked and seems to think they might know why it happened. It's not like he was my singer, like my Mom was for my Dad."

Singer? I remember Edward and Bella briefly mentioning something about that years ago. Wasn't it something like a specific human's blood that was irresistible to a particular Vampire?

"I think, well they think, rather, that after two pregnancies, and the massive blood loss I experienced from both, that I need something stronger than animal blood. He was just the first unlucky human I happened to be around, without another Vampire or Wolf scent to dilute his bloods aroma. Just being in his office, with his scent contained in there, amplified, I couldn't help myself."

"But you couldn't stand the smell, or taste, of human blood while you were pregnant." That couldn't be it, could it?

"The babies were the ones who didn't want human blood, Jake; not me." She was trying to hide again, dropping her gaze, and her head, so her hair fell in her face.

"But we gave you all of the donated blood that Carlisle left at the house, after you gave birth to Felicity. And you had some after David's birth too."

"I know, but my Father and Grandfather think, well hope, that I might just need more. Anyway, they said that they would be back to visit for my birthday, in a week, and my Grandfather will be able to get me some more donated blood then. I'll just stay in the house until they arrive."

That explained why Nessie hadn't come into the airport to get David and me when we landed. I had been wondering why she and Felicity had stayed in the car.

"Are you sure that will work?"

"Honestly I don't know. I hope so."

"Well in the meantime is there anything I can do to take your mind off of things?" I smirked as I softly caressed her arms. That brought a smile to her face, and started to dry her tears. We talked some more and when she was feeling better I gently grabbed her hand and began leading her upstairs to our new bedroom, but quickly had to pick up the pace as she started running there ahead of me. I guess she missed me too.


	13. The Hunting Party

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Thirteen**

**The Hunting Party**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"I can't believe you're making us put up with their _stankyness_ for an entire month."

"They're your family and they're coming here to celebrate our birthdays, Dave." Nessie practically had to shout at our son to be heard over his whining.

I couldn't believe David was having such a negative attitude about this. I thought, after all the work we'd done, his attitude toward his Vampire relatives had improved.

He and Felicity continued to have daily lessons online with all of them, and Jasper was spending extra time with Nessie and me coming up with different approaches we could use to talk David through his _issues_.

But I could see that I was wrong. Our efforts hadn't worked. Not in the slightest.

"You mean they're coming here to celebrate Mom's birthday, and they'll just still be hanging around for mine. They don't actually care about me."

"No! We mean yours AND your Mother's. David they love you. You're their Grandson and Great-Nephew and Great-Grandson. You're family. Of course they love you. How could you not think that?" I replied.

"Just think about all of the time they spend with you online, getting to know you, your hobbies, and interests," Nessie added. "Trying to teach you everything they know, to prepare you for life. They want you to know all that they do, they love you and they would spend every single day with you here if you would let them."

"Like I could ever live with a bunch of stinking Vampires," he spat.

"David, are you forgetting that I'm one of those _stinking_ Vampires, a Half-_Stinking_-Vampire. And you and your sisters are a Quarter-_Stinking_-Vampire," Nessie said looking rather distraught. I believe she was starting to think we might never get through to him.

Damn-it! It saddened me to think that I used to feel and think the same way David does, now. I hope that David didn't somehow read all of these hate filled feelings in my mind, when we were phased. But I know I hadn't felt that way about the family in the years. Not since before I'd Imprinted on my Angel.

"They are your family," I told him, "and you will be respectful."

David just gave us a look like we were crazy for even thinking that.

I sighed. What else could we say that we hadn't said a thousand times before? "Just try not to openly growl at them. Do you think you could do that for me?"

He huffed.

Not great.

"I'll try, but no promises, Dad. And I'm not responsible for whatever Grandpa Eddie pulls out of my head."

"Deal," I responded for his mother and myself. I guess that was as good as it was going to get, for now anyway. "And what about you, Felicity?" Had her feelings about them changed, in a negative way, due to her brother's influence?

She shrugged. "Oh, I'm fine. You know I love our Cullen Vampire side. I wish they were around more."

Well that was something, at least. One out of two wasn't bad.

"I'm going hunting," David said as he started to walk away. "No way I'm going with those leeches... I mean... the _family_ around. I'll see you guys later." He voice dripped with sarcasm as he stormed toward the back door.

"Hold on. No going hunting on your own."

"Your Father is right, David. No one in this family hunts alone, ever. It's too dangerous. Not even your Grandparents or Great-Aunts and Uncles, none of them ever hunt alone either, and they are Full-Vampires. "I didn't want to mention to him that it was more to do with making sure none of them lost control and went after a human by mistake. Neither of my children was attracted to human blood, but that information would probably render our argument moot. "It's just too dangerous. That's one area that we're not going to give in on."

"All right fine, but just Felicity and me. The two of us can handle anything we come across." Picking his sister was smart, since she was still growing so fast she was always thirsty and unlikely to say "no", and with her there would be no parental oversight… or so he thought.

"I'm not so sure about that, but maybe if your Father was in his Wolf form at the same time, watching over you two from a distance, then that would be agreeable. What do you say honey?" Nessie asked, turning to look at me. I wish she'd spoken with me first. I was even more protective of Felicity than I was of David. I think it was just that Felicity was my baby girl, even if she did look like a teenager now.

"Pleeeeasssse," my daughter cooed, with her hands folded under her chin, looking up at me from those same long lashes Nessie had. Damn-it! She knew that would get me to say "yes" to practically anything. She had me completely wrapped around her little finger. It didn't hurt that she looked like a mini Nessie. Sure her hair was bone straight, and her skin seemed to always look permanently tanned, two things she got from me, but the rest of her was all Nessie, from her beautiful chocolate eyes down to her perfect, never needing to be pedicured toes.

"All right, just be careful," I sighed. "And I'll be watching."

I could see that this was something David really needed to do. Being kept bottled up, not having as much freedom as he needed was just infuriating him and he was growing more and more agitated all the time. He needed a little bit of leeway and we needed to give it to him.

They took off out the back door, David phasing on the edge of the property, by the tree line. I phased right after, but kept my word and stayed in the backyard.

An hour later David was just finishing off his first deer when Felicity spotted one for herself. She took off running after it and I worried when she wasn't in my view any longer, since I could only see through David's eyes. I was panicking but before I could even tell David he needed to follow her, my son abandoned his meal and followed her on his own.

I sighed in relief, seeing that she was fine.

_Calm down dad. It wasn't even eight seconds. _

David was right. I was overreacting. The kids were doing fine hunting on their own... so far. I know David and Felicity were grown now. David was an adult and Felicity a teenager, at least they looked like they were, but I was still their Father and I worried about them.

When she finished they decided to look for one more deer each. Their scent was easy to follow, and it was obvious that the herd had regrouped a few miles east of their first kills. As my kids ran towards them David picked up another scent… there was a Vampire in the vicinity!

Back when the Cullen's were still here, we would come across a random Vampire or two in the area from time to time. But almost every meeting was cordial. Occasionally they would show some interest in Nessie or me since we were different, but Vampires weren't attracted to either of our blood, so no issues ever arose. And this wasn't the Reservation; I never tried to stop them from feeding. It wasn't worth starting something between them and my family if they were just going to be moving on. I wasn't some sort of vigilantly; I couldn't go hunting down all of the Vampires on the planet.

But Dave had other ideas.

I warned him, and Felicity, over and over, not to go after, or even near unfamiliar Vampires on their own. If they came across one, to just run home or wait for backup if it looked like there was going to be trouble. I didn't really need to say anything to Felicity. She had no desire to kill anyone, even Vampires. She hadn't inherited the inborn hatred of them her brother had. She had no desire to go after the scent but David was already running towards whoever was out there and she followed her brother anyway.

Why couldn't that boy ever listen?

The Vampire, whoever she was, looked frail; she must have been at least sixty when she was first changed. While she had the normal unnatural beauty all Vampires possessed, her hair was grey, and her skin probably wrinkled and hung loosely off of her before she became immortal, and she was bone thin, but that meant little for her kind. As with any Vampire she was incredibly strong, stronger than David had realized, but he quickly found out when she easily deflected his attack, spun around, picked him up as if he weighed no more than a feather, and threw him against a tree twenty feet away. I felt the impact and the shattering of his shin bone.

All I could do was watch in horror as the leech then turned to Felicity.

I wanted to scream for her to stay away from my daughter, but I wasn't there. I was just seeing this through my son's eyes and as much as he was trying to get up to get to her, he couldn't. Every time he laid pressure on his broken leg, it just collapsed in on itself.

"What are you, little girl?" the leeches sing-song voice seethed to my daughter. "You don't smell human. You smell like something else, almost like us, but not completely."

Oh no - _US_. Were there more Vampires in the area?

In a blink of an eye she was inches from my daughter. "Are you one of us or not little girl?"

"I am," Felicity answered her, while taking a useless step back. She was shaking and I could hear the trepidation in her voice. My daughter was terrified. "I'm... part-Vampire," she clarified, always feeling the need to be completely honest.

Oh no! Shut up, shut up, shut up. The truth wasn't going to lead to anything good. On the other hand, if they were talking they weren't fighting.

"What do you mean, part? You're either a Vampire or you're not."

"My Grandfather is a Vampire."

"Really, well, that's interesting." the leech replied, but I could then that she didn't believe Felicity.

"Please don't tell the Volturi."

The leech's eyes widened infinitesimally. "The Volturi? You know about them?" she asked cocking her head to the side. She seemed more inclined to believe my daughter now, not that it would make much difference. "Why would I bother going all the way to Italy when you're gonna be dead in two minutes?"

"Wh… why? You just said I didn't smell like food." Felicity backed up again.

"Just because I'm not going to drink you dry, doesn't mean I'm not going to kill you, my little dear."

"What? No!" Felicity choked.

This was hard to watch, but that was all I could do until I got there. I was running as fast as I could but was still a good ways away.

"And who's gonna stop me? You?" the leech laughed.

"I'm more than capable of defending myself, and my brother."

"Your brother?" She looked around. "I don't see anybody else around here. Just that lame dog," she laughed again, while gesturing over to my son, who was still whimpering in pain.

"His name is David, and he IS my brother."

"You have one weird family, sweetheart."

David started howling. He was trying to distract her, get her to stop focusing on Felicity, but she didn't take the bait.

"Don't worry, my dear," the leech said while she reached out and wrapped one of her long boney fingers under my daughter's chin, "since I'm not hungry, I'll make it quick. Well," she amended, "I'll make your death quick, but first I'm going to take my time with your pet... I mean your _brother_," she chuckled, ripping her hand away. The leeches nail must have cut my daughter because a small trickle of blood started dripping from Felicity's chin.

David had been howling the whole time she spoke, disagreeing with everything she said, knowing none of it was true. Well one thing was – she wanted to kill my children. But now he was screaming in pain as she slammed her foot down on his already broken leg.

"REALLY," Felicity practically screamed, pushing down her own fear, attempting to distract the leech as she tortured my son, "because it looks like you're hungry to me. You wouldn't have been on your way to find a snack, around here, were you?" Of course Felicity could tell she was hungry, just like Dave had. Her eyes were black. She must have been looking for someone to eat for awhile now.

It worked. While I was relieved to get a few more seconds to get to them I was worried about Felicity. She needed to watch what she said and be careful not to antagonize the leech, or provoke her, or give her any ideas.

"You're right. I am hungry. Even if you don't smell that appetizing you have some very nice veins running through you." she said while eyeing the still fresh and bleeding wound on Felicity's chin. I pushed my legs even harder. They were burning now, but I had to reach my children before it was too late. "I'm not sure exactly what you are, but I have a feeling whatever it is, you'll still make a nice appetizer, even if not a particularly tasty one."

That did it! As she started back over to my daughter, with renewed vigor, David somehow found his footing and stood back up. Hobbling along on three legs he rammed right into the leech, but he was off balance and ended up throwing her towards Felicity. Thankfully he managed to dig his teeth into her arm and yank the vamp back for she could lay a hand on my daughter.

Felicity wasn't a Wolf; she wasn't as strong as her brother in his Wolf form. I know as Quarter-Vampire, Part-Wolves they both were equal with Nessie in strength and speed on two feet. And Nessie had killed Joham on her own, but she'd used her gift to distract him first. Felicity couldn't do that and I was terrified of what could happen to my baby girl.

I could see them both through David's eyes, as I continued to race as fast as I could to get to them. Just like the last time, David continued to fight the leech by himself, but this time he was losing.

David managed to get in a few swings and bites at the leech, but she was still in one piece. On his next lung he managed to amputate her left hand before accidentally flinging her right back into Felicity's path again.

Up until now my daughter had kept out of the fight. She was truly the definition of a lover, not a fighter. And now only held out her hands to push the leech off of her, but as soon as Felicity touched the leech's skin my daughter seemed to recoil in on herself.

Oh crap! Was she okay? Did the leech hurt her somehow?

No, I think she was only dazed. I saw, through David's eyes, that she quickly got up and actually joined the fight. This was terrifying as their Father to watch. I didn't want to see either of my children fighting Vampires, but it looked like now that it was two against one they were starting to do pretty well.

Nessie and I'd given both of them fight training. Felicity's was similar to the one Nessie had received - offensive and defensive skills. We never knew what might happen and what kind of training they would need, so we just went for everything.

The fight was still going on when I finally got there. Both of my kids were all right, not including Dave's broken leg, but that would heal. I jumped in and was quickly able to finish her off, ripping her head clear off her body in a single jerk.

David had collapsed as soon as the leech went down. I thought he'd passed out but was conscious enough to phase back to human a few seconds later. "Felicity, are you okay?" he then asked his sister, from the bottom of the forest floor where he was now sitting, holding his injured leg.

"Now you're worried about her? You should have thought about Felicity before you went after the Vampire." I screamed at him after quickly looking them both over to make sure they didn't have any major injuries.

"Don't you mean LEECH?" he snarled back at me.

"What?"

You're always telling me not to call the Cullens leeches and all I heard in my head the entire fight was you referring that bloodsucker as a Leech. Hypocrite!" he snarled at me.

"That's not the point," I screamed at him in frustration, only now realizing he was right, but we could talk about that later. "David your sister could have gotten hurt. You both could have. You did," I said gesturing to his leg. "What were you thinking? You know you're not supposed to go after Vampires on your own." I was so pissed at him.

"I'm fine, Dad. And I can take care of myself. I'm not some fragile doll you know." That was a lie. Even if he did believe it, I could see him wincing in pain, even as he spoke. He tried to hide it but that wasn't really possible. I was already in his head; I knew how much pain he was in.

"I know that son," I placated him. "You clearly can take care of yourself." Okay so I was being sarcastic and my voice may have been a little too thick with its mocking tone. He growled. Yup. I wasn't helping myself. "I'm your father. Whether you like it or not it's my job to protect you," I sincerely said this time. "I don't want either of you going after Vampires on your own."

"We weren't alone," David snapped back at me, still annoyed. "Felicity and I had each other. It was two against one. I would have had the bloodsucker in another twenty seconds if you hadn't come when you did."

"Maybe. But you could have also gotten yourselves killed, or hurt worse than you already are," I exclaimed gesturing again to his broken leg. It was going to take a few days to heal and was probably already setting wrong.

"Um… Dad!" Felicity gasped. She pointed to the Vamps body that was slowly crawling toward its head.

"Err, do either of you have a lighter?" After they both shook their heads, I started searching for some dry sticks. It looked like we were going to have to make a fire the old fashioned way. This was going to take time. The longer we waited the more David's leg healed wrong. Nessie had gotten some basic medical training from Carlisle and was probably going to have to re-break and reset it once we finally made it back to the house.

When I was sure the leech's body was completely engulfed in the flames I went over to David. "This is going to hurt, I'll be as gentle as I can, but I need to pick you up to carry you home."

It took over an hour before we made it back, and though he tried not to, still screamed out in pain a few times.

"Oh crap! What happened," Nessie yelled as she rushed out of the house to meet us once we came into view.

After I quickly explained what had happened she went to work treating our son.

"You should have told me," she quietly said to me as she was examining David's leg. She was angry, and she was right to be.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to take off without telling you. I just saw what was happening and panicked."

"I need to re-break this David," Nessie told our son. "It's going to hurt," she warned him.

"Here, bite on this," I said after quickly grabbing a candlestick from the nearby mantle. It was solid silver and probably wouldn't break. I thought… hoped biting it might focus his attention on something other than the pain he was about to be in.

David bit. I held him down. Nessie broke. He screamed. Felicity covered her ears. Eventually it was over. It only took a second or two but it felt longer to me, probably even longer to David. And his screams lasted even longer than that.

After that was done Nessie turned to me, "Hold his arms while I pull his leg to set it in the proper position."

Felicity gasped. She looked like she was going to pass out.

"Honey," Nessie said to our daughter, "can you go check Carlisle's office and see if you can find any morphine."

She looked relieved, I wasn't sure if it was because she wouldn't have to see what happened next, even though the hard part was over, or because she now had something to do, or maybe it was that she could do something to ease her brothers pain, but either way she ran out of the room as fast as she could.

By the time she came back David's leg was set and Ness was finishing wrapping it up. Then she gave David some of the morphine but it would take some time before it kicked in.

I turned my attention to my daughter. I was worried about her.

"What happened to you out there? I saw you flinch when your brother flung the Vampire at you. Did you get hurt?" I asked, throwing an accusing glare at my son. The cut on her chin was completely healed by now. I didn't see anything else physically wrong, and she hadn't mentioned anything.

"I'm fine. It's just what I saw with my gift when my hand touched her. It was horrible. She was truly a monster. I've never felt anything like her from any of the Cullen's. They're so different, so good, compared to that one," she exclaimed. "She was Pure Evil. Could you see that? Did you feel anything from her, Dave? All she wanted to do was murder, and drink, and kill. And cause as much pain and destruction as possible. Is that how all normal Vampires are, Dad? The red-eyed ones?"

"Some," I replied. "I use to believe, like David, that they're all like that. But I've come to realize that that's not true. Not all Vampires are bad, just like not all humans are good.

"It's what I've been trying to explain to you, David, your entire life. Most Vampires, the red eyed ones, they can't form the bonds, the attachment, the love that your family has.

"The Cullen's vegetarian diet allows them to be more human in a way. Red eyed Vamps are not capable of forming the same bonds or connections. They can't live like a real family, they cannot love the way your family does, as they love you. But not all of them are pure evil either. The ones that came to be witnesses for your Mother against the Volturi were -" what could I say? They still ate people, but weren't sadistic about it. "Well they aren't all bad." At least I didn't think they were.

"Then again, there are those out there, like the one today that are vicious and enjoy torturing people. Your family would never do those types of things."

"Yeah, I think I'm starting to see that," Dave whispered, as if, that if he said the words too loudly, everything he'd believed would be called into question. I think it actually was. "I guess the Cullen's might actually be different." His eyes were wide and the right one seemed to be twitching. What was he thinking? Could it be? Were we starting to get through to him?

I'd have to ask him later, because a second later it seemed that the morphine had kicked in and he was asleep.

* * *

**A.N.** Thanks for reading. Please review. Are we going to see a different side of David now? The Cullens return in the next chapter, how do you think that will go?


	14. The Cullens Return

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Fourteen**

**The Cullens Return (First and Last Birthdays)**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

It was a week before my birthday when my family arrived, early in the morning. Very early. Ridiculously early! Their flight touched down at 2:17AM. I know they didn't need sleep, but I also know they were capable of remembering that Jake and I did. Couldn't they have found a later fight?

Jake and I had decided that instead of trying to fall asleep around 8pm, and getting only a few hours of sleep, before having to wake up at eleven to make it to the airport in time to pick everyone up, we decided to just stay up and not go to sleep until we got back home

Oh, well. At least David and Felicity were fast asleep, back home.

"There's my favorite Niece," Uncle Emmett shouted as my family came barreling towards Jake and me, as we greeted them at the airport gate.

I really had thought my parents would have rushed ahead of everyone to wrap me in a hug first, but my Uncle somehow managed to wedge his giant frame in between everyone and get to me first, picking me up and squeezing all of the air out of my lungs.

Before I could even complain he began whispering into my ear. "So your Wolf isn't doing it for you anymore?" he joked. Now I saw what his reasoning was, not wanting anyone to hear. Why I don't know, obviously my Father would have already read his mind. "Stepping out on him with some puny hum-"

He never got to finish his sentence; Jake ripped me out of his arms and punched him in his ribs so fast that I was sure none of the humans around us had seen.

I knew Uncle Emmett was just teasing, so was Jake, and it's not like either of them got hurt, so I didn't even bother saying anything, just rolled my eyes at their juvenile behavior.

"Well, if we're all done here," my Grandfather began, eyeing the two of them, "I believe we need to be going. And if I'm not mistaken, this young lady needs some blood," he said, while patting me on the back. He then continued, too low for any of the surrounding humans to hear, "I've been on the phone with some of my contacts at the local hospital. I have no doubt I will be able to purchase all of the blood you will need. We can swing by on the way home to pick it up."

While I was thirsty I was also very tired. Isn't it too early in the morning to go shopping?

"That's the thing about hospitals, darling. They never close," my Father replied, answering my unspoken question. "And I know how much you are struggling right now. Let's go," he said as he hurried everyone along.

I had been trying not to think about the burn in my throat but he was right. I was famished. Animal blood just wasn't doing it for me lately. Being around humans right now was hard… tempting. Luckily at this time of day the airport wasn't too crowded. Suddenly my family's arrival time made sense.

Once we got back home, after making our quick detour to the hospitals blood bank, I checked to make sure the kids were still asleep, then quickly downed a few of the donation bags; the rest would be safely stored in the frig at my Aunt and Uncle's former house. I couldn't keep human blood at my house since David would probably have a fit if he saw them.

Felicity would probably have had the same problem as her brother, if she'd ever phased, but since she never did, she seemed to find everyone's scent – both Wolves and Vampires, as pleasing as I did.

After her revelation regarding red eyed Vampires, David's hatred towards the family had lessened, but their smell still bothered him, and the thought of drinking from humans, or just their blood, repulsed him. I didn't like hiding things from either of my children, but I didn't see any other option. I needed this.

After I was done with my sixth bag, and feeling a bit like a pig, Aunt Alice started jumping up and down, turning into her normal hyperactive, super-party organizer self. How had she been holding it in until now? Once she started explaining her ideas to me I realized she must have started planning my birthday party weeks before she even got on the plane to come here, because everything was all set to take place, next week, in her former house.

Alice was going overboard as usual. By the size and scope of everything she was planning, I initially thought it was going to be a duel party with David but Aunt Alice wanted to make David's party special as well. It was his first after all, and it didn't look like he would have more than two. And as to mine she attempted to rationalize it, claiming that since this was my last birthday, she had to make it big.

She was right in one way. This was it. I was turning seven and would never get any older.

I was never going to ever have a period again. While I was glad to not have to go through that bleeding, cramping, headachy hell ever again (yeah) it also meant that I would not be able to have any more children either. And I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or not. I mean I loved my children but their deliveries almost killed me. Literally! I guess it really didn't matter, it's not like I had an option, or choice, in what my body was no longer able to do.

At least I wouldn't appear any older in the future. As it was, I looked to be around twenty-three years old - the same age as my Grandfather, but five to six years older than my parents.

It was a relief that I wouldn't look older than my Jacob. There was a point, a couple of years ago, where I was worried that I would keep aging and surpass his physical age. I know it was superficial but I didn't want to appear older than him.

Grandma Esme had lived to be three years older than my Grandfather when he changed her, not that they, or anyone else cared. I wasn't sure if my Jacob would feel the same about us. Sure I know he would still love me as much as always, but there was just this nagging feeling that the Alpha in him would take issue with it somehow. It was stupid… and wasn't really anything more than a single dumb, random, passing, _INSANE_ thought. Even still I was happy that I stopped aging while I looked a couple of years younger than him.

This was the one time that I did actually care about my own appearance. I guess I was similar to my Mother in that way. It was the reason, well one of the reasons that she refused to celebrate her birthday anymore. Her other being that she hated being the center of attention. She wanted to stay forever eighteen, only one year older than my Father.

My family had been right and this past year I'd barely aged a single year, and for the past few months there was _almost_ no noticeable alteration to my appearance. My hair had grown a sixteenth of an inch, my nails were one thirty-fourth of a centimeter longer, I hadn't grown any taller, but my checks appeared a bit sharper and had lost some chubbiness, not that there had been a lot to begin with at the beginning of the year.

Living with a family of impossibly beautiful Vampires, I probably could have come out quite shallow, but I'd never cared much about physical appearances. My family always told me that I was beautiful, but when everyone around you was beautiful, it just equaled average.

Even my Jacob, while not a Vampire was far superior looking to the average human. I don't know if it was his size, muscles, flawless russet skin, beautiful brown eyes, chiseled jaw, rock hard abs, or what, but it all seemed to fit together to create a perfect specimen of handsome manhood. And he was all mine. Okay, maybe I was a little shallow... just about him, though. But who wouldn't be. He was gorgeous.

Of course I would like to think that I would love him all the same even if he didn't look so good. His heart and soul, his kind, loving, and caring personality, his protection and devotion would more than make up for any physical flaws to his appearance.

The week leading up to my party flew by. I'd spent almost all of my time with my family. Felicity too.

David even tried a couple of times to hangout with everyone, but it was hard for him, putting up with their scent. He'd never be able to handle the party Alice had planned.

"Aunt Alice what were you thinking?" I asked her when I saw the guest list.

She had invited almost all of the family's Vampire friends, which amounted to most of the witnesses from our encounter with the Volturi, and a few others. If they had been like our cousins in Denali it probably wouldn't have been that bad, but most of them followed a more _traditional_ Vampire diet.

I was excited at the thought of seeing all those who had helped save my life as a baby. I knew seven years seemed like a blink of an eye to them, but it was my entire life, and it felt like I hadn't seen them in forever.

"Nessie, it's your birthday. Your very LAST birthday party. It has to be big," she'd tried reasoning with me.

"And you think that I would enjoy it if my son attacks the guests? Or they him? Really Aunt Alice, this isn't going to work."

After some arm twisting it was agreed that Jake would take Dave away for the day to do something fun, and not life threatening – just until everyone left. Then we would have a smaller party just for the Cullen family that night.

As my smaller family party was winding down something must have happened between Dave and Uncle Jasper. They were in another room so I didn't see what happened but my son was shouting while Uncle Jasper tried unsuccessfully to calm him down, not with his gift, we all knew that wouldn't work, but with words.

What now? My earlier party guests were gone.

Dave said he'd had fun with Jake earlier; apparently they had gone to some Comic-Con convention in the area. It wasn't really Jake's thing, but Dave had a wonderful time. And I thought things were going to be better now that he knew his family wasn't the enemy.

"You have all this power, and what do you do?" David seethed to Uncle Jasper. "Nothing! You could be out there, helping people. Saving lives. But you just sit here and do nothing, day after day, year after year. century after century. What's the point?"

"And what would you have us do? Dress up in spandex and don some masks," my Father steadily responded, as we all entered the room they were in. I assumed he was responding to whatever he saw in my son's mind. "This isn't one of your comic books. We're not superheroes," he said while smirking over to my Mother, adding, "Well not all of us," under his breath, to her.

"I'm very aware of the fact that you're not heroes," Dave huffed. "But you could be. You could help people. I'm not even suggesting you go and hunt down other Vampires, I know you would never do that," he continued to rant, growing more agitated by the second. "But there are humans out there that are bad too, and even more that need your protection. If you saw someone was in danger and needed help, or saw a criminal committing a crime, you could easily stop them."

"I'm afraid the risk of exposure is just too great, David. We can't get involved in humans lives like that." my Grandfather gently countered.

"Yeah, just like I thought. You _claim_ to be good, yet never actually _do_ any good. Why should I believe anything any of you say?"

"My work as a doctor is the closest any of us come to helping people, that's true. But this is the only way for us to remain safe, hidden. Nothing is more important than keeping our existence a secret. I assume your parents have told you about the Volturi?" he asked, looking over to me.

Internally I cringed at the mere mention of their name, but just gave him a slight nod. David knew my family couldn't expose themselves like that. What was he thinking?

"But you could still do something," he tried again. "You're all so fast and strong, and Alice can see what people are going to do, and Grandpa Eddie you can hear what humans are thinking. There must be something you could do. This seems like the perfect solution. You want to drink human blood, so drink it, just drink from the bad guys; murderers who already don't deserve to live. You would be doing the world a favor."

Suddenly my Father got up and vanished out of the room. I was about to panic, worried that David had pushed him over the edge, but less than five seconds later he returned and was caring some books, which he handed to David. They were his journals, from 1927 to 1931. The ones where my Father went off on his own to hunt humans. Why would he give them to David? Did he want to prove just how much of a monster he could be? No, I pushed that thought out of my mind almost as fast as I'd thought of it. But why?

"This is the reason we cannot do as you suggest." my Father simply explained. "Why don't you take some time and read them, then come to me if you have any questions and we can discuss things again."

Of course. The journals not only recounted who my Father had hunted during those years – rapist and murders, but the uncontrollable bloodlust that he experienced as a result. It was almost impossible for him to stick with just his intended victims. The want, the need for more and more human blood became so great, it had taken everything he had not to attack the innocent humans around him.

It also contained an account of the realization my Father had come to, the rationale behind why he went back to my Grandparents and their vegetarian diet. Killing humans, whether he deemed them innocents or murders was still wrong, and was what truly made him a monster in his own eyes.

And even if it didn't, my son's desire for my family to feed from the "bad guys" would greatly endanger the lives of the innocent that David was so intent on saving. Those living around us were in barely any danger currently from my family, doing what David suggested would greatly decrease that security.

The next day, after Dave had finished reading my Father's journals, he handed them back. They had the exact outcome my Father had hoped they would and put a stop to his insane idea of my family _helping_ people by feeding from criminals.

"So you don't feed on them," he gave in. "You could still do something… even if it's just handing them over to the proper authorities," he'd tried again. Clearly Dave still hadn't come to terms with the reality of my family's life and choices. He still thought they… we should become some sort of vigilantly justice group and round up all of the "bad guys" and hand them over to the police.

"David," my Mother tried to reason with him this time, "While your idea is a nice one it's not something that's possible."

To say that he was _upset_ after she went over all of the reasons that it wouldn't be, was an understatement.

While David's rant wouldn't immediately eliminate crime and corruption in the world, it might eventually come to something. At the very least it got my family thinking that maybe endlessly repeating high school wasn't the best use of their time.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

As much as I'd hoped, Leah had never taken a liking to Nessie, or warmed up to the Cullens, over the years. So it didn't surprise me too much when she said she couldn't get out of work to come to Nessie's party. She probably never even put in a request for the time off.

Come to think of it, she hadn't been around as much lately. Ever since David and Felicity were born she'd been visiting a lot more frequently than she had in the past, but these past few weeks, with the Cullen's here, she pretty much disappeared again. While they weren't friends, I thought she'd gotten over her prejudice towards them.

I couldn't be sure though. Leah and I never seemed to be phased at the same time anymore. I know she still did every now and then cause she didn't want to give up her Wolf. Now that David was here, and I had him to talk to while in Wolf form, I guess she no longer felt that I had the need to have her be phased at the same time as me anymore. Unlike me she likes the quiet of being alone in her own head. I couldn't really blame her for that.

I was happy though when she did come to David's birthday party a few days later. It might have been because we had invited her mom, and the rest of our human family, together with all of the La Push Wolves. Not all of them came; some had to remain in La Push to protect the Tribe.

In the end Billy, Charlie and Sue, Seth and Carol, Leah, Paul and Rachel and their kids, and Jared and Kim came. Alice had sent everyone who needed it first class plane tickets per usual.

David he really liked his presents. He did not however like Jared being at his party. In our house. Or in the state of New Hampshire for that matter.

After David tried to take over the La Push Pack from him I was shocked that Jared came.

"I thought it would be a good idea," Kim told me, even though I never said a word. She must have just seen the shock on my face and guessed what I was thinking. "The two of them need to work out their… um, _issues,_ and learn to get along." When Jared started growling at David and David snarled back at him, she huffed and amended her statement. "Basically I'm hoping they can play nice."

"Come on," Nessie said while grabbing Kim's hand and dragging her playfully into the living room where the rest of the Pack had gathered. "You must be hungry after your flight. Let's get you something to eat."

"I'm hungry too," Jared called, running after them.

"She's right," I said to David once they were in the other room. I hoped that he would realize that they might need each other someday, and weren't enemies. Dave couldn't keep seeing Jared as just one more obstacle standing in his way of becoming Alpha. "He's a good guy and a good Wolf. We were both in Sam's Pack together before your Mother was born. He knows what he's doing. All the other Wolves respect him… seems like he's a good Alpha. Stop fighting with him. He came all this way for your birthday."

"That's only because his Imprint ordered him to."

Okay, so my son was probably right about that but it didn't mean what I said wasn't also true and I told him as much.

I was expecting more of an argument from him but instead he closed his eyes, huffed, then took a deep breath, and agreed to try and make amends. Then he did something even more unexpected and went over to Jared and apologized for his actions and behavior in La Push.

Jared seemed shocked. He verbally accepted the apology but it didn't look like he actually believed my son, more like it was something I probably Alpha ordered him to do. Still… it was a start.

They didn't instantly become friends from that point forward or anything, that would have been a miracle… and beyond believable, but they didn't start fighting each other either. Mostly they just glared at each other, but again, it was a start… I guessed.

So with no risk of a fight breaking out in the middle of the living room Nessie felt it was time for David to open is gifts.

The Cullens gave him more of what they knew he would like – comic books and graphic novels, as well as a new wardrobe, some sort of fancy, overly expensive watch, a new tablet, and a variety of designer sneakers.

Nessie and I were trying to pass on the family's love of chess to our children so I made him a chess set, just like I had for Nessie years before. But for his, on one side I carved eight Wolf figures - all different versions of him throughout his brief life in different stages of development to stand in for the king and queen, the two bishops, two knights and two rooks. Then I turned the Cullen's into the pawns. Carlisle and Esme, Bella and Edward, Rose and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper. Not actually their likenesses but just a representation of each of them – Carlisle was represented by an old fashion doctors bag, Alice became a shopping bag, Bella a book, and so on. The pieces on other side of the board were made up of some of Dave's favorite comic book characters, and then I carved their symbols, or weapons, or pets (depending on the character) for the pawns. I briefly considered, then thought better of putting the Wolf versions of him on one side and the Cullen's on the other. Not wanting to rekindle or add to his issues with them and have him literally fight them on a chessboard I decided not to.

On the other hand, maybe that might be better. It could help him work out his some of his remaining issues with them, in a nonviolent way. I should discuss it with Jasper before he leaves; see what our resident shrink thinks about it.

I'm still working on a set for Felicity. I'm only about one third of the way done with her figurines, but she still has another seven months before her first birthday and a lot of growing to do. She was turning into a beautiful, intelligent, caring young woman just like her Mother.

I'd taught both of my children how to carve, just the basics, enough to make something simple but they surprised me with the unique little trinkets they'd made for their Mother's birthday. Nessie obviously really appreciated and loved them, placing the carvings in a place of honor on our mantle.

She said she loved all of her gifts but I think the greatest gift Nessie received this year was being able to see her family again. Well that and the blood Carlisle had provided for her.

She'd chugged all that he'd obtained the first time in just two days and he'd had to go for more. Twice! But Nessie assured us she didn't need any more, as evident by the seven un-drunk bags still in the freezer.

* * *

_Scott's shot up another two inches but his temperature is still normal –for now. _

"All right, thanks for letting me know. Sorry but I've gotta go, talk to you later," I said ending my phone call with Jared, as Carlisle entered the kitchen. The Cullens were leaving today. They'd stayed a little over a week. Enough to celebrate Ness, Bella, and David's birthdays and were now getting ready to head back to France. The Wolves and my family had left two days ago.

"Is everything alright?"

"Possible new Wolf," I shrugged.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "This occurred in response to the month Renesmee spent -"

"Yup." There wasn't much else to say. If Brady's little brother phased or not, nothing we said here today would change things. Once the process started there wasn't any way to stop it. None that I knew anyway.

"I see," was all he replied probably sensing that I didn't want to go into it with him right now. Instead he handed me a large folder.

Opening it didn't help me understand what was going on. It was filled with charts, and everything written was in medical jargon that I couldn't make heads or tails of.

"They are the results of the genetic tests you asked me to run," he replied seeing the confusion on my face.

Cool, there were a few things I was curious about. Both of my kids must have wanted to know as well, because neither had a problem with letting the Doc take a sample of their blood – almost. David actually had Nessie draw his, while her Father talked her through what to do. I half expected him to stay and wait and see if the Doc was going to drink it when Nessie handed the vial over to him, but he surprised me by just turning and leaving. He never said thank you or anything like that, but progress was progress, in the way David felt about the Cullen's, so I took it as a minor win, for now anyway.

"It turns out that your Wolf lineage is actually the result of a combination of more than one gene. The one that allows you to phase into a Wolf is a different gene than the one that regulates your accelerated growth rate, and then," he paused, seemingly searching for the right word, "goes into a sort of hibernation to halt any further aging. And an entirely different one is responsible for your superhuman enhancements – advanced strength, hearing, sense of smell and eyesight, as well as the heightened body temperature, sped up metabolism and speed, maneuverability, and coordination as well as your accelerated healing abilities.

"When you're a Wolf the three sets of genes seem to work in tandem and combine to further enhance all of those abilities in addition to those that are solely connected to the Wolf part of you, the razor sharp teeth, even more excessive speed, strength and other senses and of course your Wolf telepathy.

"This explains why Felicity is able to have the same accelerated growth, healing, and strength as David without the need to transform into a Wolf. Those genes most likely would have normally remained dormant, ready to be passed on to any future sons, had it not been for the addition of what she inherited from Nessie's Vampire side."

"And what about Felicity's life span, Doc? Is she going to be immortal, like the rest of us, or will she continue to age until she grows old and dies or... just suddenly cease living altogether one day?" I managed to choke out. Was there some end date to her eternal clock, where once all of the ticks ran out, she just dropped dead on the spot? As morbid as it was to think about I wanted to know. So did she.

"I'm afraid that's something that only time can tell. But for now I can assure you that she's perfectly healthy. I'm sorry there isn't enough time to go over everything with you in greater detail, right now, but our flight back to France leaves soon and we need to leave now if we're going to make it, even at the speed Edward drives," he chuckled. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get you these results. I only finished just them and wanted to briefly go over everything with you before we leave. If you still have any questions feel free to call or video chat about it with me, or Edward, anytime."

"Sure, sure Doc. Thanks for doing this for me."

"It's no problem, they are my family too you know."

Yeah, I did.

* * *

A.N. Sorry not exactly much Cullen action in this chapter, and now there gone again. (they will eventually be back permanently)

And this was more of a filler chapter than anything else. But stick with the story - things are about to be set in motion that will heat things up and get the action going.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading. Please review.


	15. Friend or Foe?

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Fifteen **

**Friend or Foe?**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

For the first time in a long time I was actually all by myself. I thought I would enjoy having a little peace and quiet for once but after only an hour I started feeling a little lonely.

Felicity was currently having a Calculus lesson with Aunt Rosalie via Skype and Jake had taken David out to patrol. Not that there was really a Vampire problem around here, he just wanted to show David what to do, just in case. I think David's broken leg scared Jake enough to amp up the kid's training. He even suggested he and I resume weekly fight training, "just to keep things fresh," as he put it.

Reading my Father's journals always made me feel better so I decided to head upstairs and resume reading where I had left off. I wished my Mother had gotten into the habit, but sadly she only read books, technically the same few books over and over, she didn't write them, if you could even call a diary a book. Sometimes I couldn't believe how boring my Father's life was before he met my Mom.

As I flipped to where I'd left off I was pleasantly surprised to see a reference to the Quileute Tribe. They were only briefly mentioned when my Father, Grandparents, Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett moved to Washington for the first time, along with the treaty that my Grandfather had brokered with Jacob's Grandfather, Ephraim Black. Apparently my family hadn't stayed long in the area after learning of the existence of the Wolves. Just a few years instead of the six or seven they had planned.

Eventually things had settle back down, into a routine for my Father, until the Second World War broke out, and the family had to pretty much go into hiding. Since almost every able bodied male in the entire United States was off fighting, it would look a little odd to have three perfectly capable young men not involved in the war effort somehow.

My Grandfather wanted to help out at a field hospital somewhere, but couldn't stand the thought of being away from Grandma Esme that long. So they all went up to Denali to hide out and live with our cousins, for a while.

Yikes! I don't think I should be reading all of this stuff about Tanya. I didn't realize her and my Father had such an _interesting_ history with each other. I wonder if my Mother knows about this. Not that I would ask her, but maybe I'd have a chat with Tanya next time I saw her.

Once the war ended the family moved to Chicago. It brought some relief and stability until the arrival of Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper. I laughed out loud when I got to the part where my Father had returned home from hunting one day to find all of his belongings in the garage. But it made perfect sense, if you knew my Aunt. She wanted… needed the biggest room, _his room_. Taking it over was the only _logical_ solution, in order to house her massive wardrobe.

Things settled back down after that. Mostly boring stuff. High School. College. Relocate. High School. College. Relocate. High School. College. Relocate. Pretty routine and repetitive. There were some comments about how he didn't appreciate some of the thoughts about him from the female co-eds in high school and always looked forward to when he could escape them in college, until eventually he couldn't. Not that there were a lot of women attending universities back then but enough that it took awhile for my Father (and probably ever other male) to get use to it.

Seeing how he also mentioned, over and over, how he preferred the more prudish (my word, not his) fashion choices that returned in the '50s, it should be interesting to read what he thought of the miniskirts of the '60s.

I went to grab the next journal when my phone started ringing. Who could be calling me at this hour?

"Hello?" I didn't recognize the number.

"Renesmee my dear, it is so good to hear your voice again," a familiar voice greeted me.

"Oh… I um," gulp, "Hi," was the only thing that came to mind to say. Dumb I know, but I started to go into panic mode. I shouldn't have though; I knew I would hear from them eventually. Were they coming back? Soon?

* * *

"Morning Mom," David called as he walked into the kitchen and plopped himself down at the table. I had gotten up early to make everyone a big fancy breakfast, which included his favorite blueberry pancakes.

I was hoping all the food would keep everyone… calm, preoccupied. Crap! I knew all hell was about to break loose and I just was hoping to minimize it somehow.

"You're up early." My plan wasn't off to a very good start. "I thought, after last night, you would have slept in later. Have a seat," I tried to smile, "breakfast is almost ready."

I had gotten the warning phone call from Jennifer early enough yesterday, that when Jake and David finished patrolling I was able to suggest a late night hunting trip to everyone, which they eagerly agreed to. Just like I had hoped both my kids tired themselves out and passed out soon after we got home. Jake never seemed to tire so easily but I had a few other tricks up my sleeve, reserved just for him, after I'd made sure kids were zonked out, that I thought would help him sleep in fairly late this morning.

I was carrying a large bowl of fruit to the table when, had it not been for my enhanced Half-Vampire reflexes, I almost dropped the thing. It wasn't until then that I realized how much my hands were shaking.

Yikes, I was worried.

Hopefully he gets here before Jake wakes up. I need to talk to him. I needed to know why he's returned. If he was back for the reason I feared I would immediately have to put a stop to it. Again.

When he left, Nahuel left a note saying that he wanted to reconnect with his family. That's why he took Jennifer to Brazil to meet Huilen. But when his sister called the other day, she told me that only Nahuel would be arriving today, she'd decided to stay with Huilen and Roberto. She explained that she missed her home too much, but promised that we would meet again, someday.

It didn't make any sense. Nahuel left his only remaining family behind to stay with us. Why?

I'm sure there was a logical reason behind it. I just didn't know what it was. But whatever the reason I had a feeling Jake wasn't going to be happy about it, because the only thing jumping to my mind was me, and that was definitely going to lead to a fight between the two of them. But I had chosen Jacob. There wasn't any reason for any competition between the two of them anymore. He had to know that. They both did. Right?

At least David would probably be happy Nahuel was coming back. He got along so well with Nahuel the last time they saw each other. And I'd told Felicity all about Nahuel and Jennifer and was sure they were going to be great friends. My daughter seemed to get along with everybody.

My son started piling pancakes on his plate, blissfully unaware of my worries as I continued bring the rest of the food to the table. I'd wanted to be able to talk to Nahuel in private, before anyone woke up, to figure out his intentions, but I guess that wasn't going to happen now. Right now I tried to concentrate on breakfast.

Let's see – two dozen muffins, thirty pancakes, two bottles of syrup, three packages of bacon, two cartons of now scramble eggs, a bowl of strawberries, and three gallons of fresh squeezed orange juice. Was I missing anything? No, I don't think so. I believe I made enough of everyone's favorite breakfast foods.

It was part a welcome home for Nahuel, part a celebration for my kids for their friends return (well future friend in Felicity's case, I hoped), and partially, well mostly, a buttering up of my soulmate.

_This is going to be a long morning_, I sighed to myself.

"Huh?" David asked.

Oops, did I say that out loud? "Nothing," I waved my hand, "just talking to myself."

Where was he? For twenty minutes now I've been listening for the cab that Nahuel would be arriving in. His flight was supposed to have landed at Logan Airport two and a half hours ago. Factoring in having to go through customs and traffic leaving Boston meant he should be arriving any minute now.

Come on, come on, come on. If he didn't get here soon Jake would be up and I wouldn't get my chance beforehand.

A few minutes later, he arrived just slightly behind schedule. I would have to work fast.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

I don't know what had gotten into Nessie last night but she couldn't get enough of me (or I wasn't able to satisfy her). No, judging by the smile she permanently wore last night I knew it was the former, not the later theory. Last night was amazing and also the first lime she outlasted me in bed. I was so tired I don't even remember falling asleep. Not that I was complaining. I enjoyed last night's activities immensely. Normally I don't get tired from physical activities, only mental exhaustion, but whatever had gotten into Nessie, it was amazing.

Mmmm, she smelled delicious. I reached out to grab her and pull her closer to me, so I could hold her in my arms but all my hand found were empty sheets. Opening my eyes I saw I was alone in bed. Sniffing the air told me her amazing scent was coming from the kitchen, but it was mixed with my second favorite smell on the planet – food. Nessie must be cooking breakfast. I was about to head out there when I remembered I needed clothes. We had kids now.

After throwing on some pants I entered the kitchen and saw everyone already sitting at the table. I guess I was the last one up. David was already chomping away at a plate piled high with pancakes. And Nessie was huddled over Felicity in some sort of close conversation at the table. Wait, no that wasn't Felicity behind Nessie. It was Nahuel.

I hadn't realized he was coming back. His note said he would, but part of me didn't actually believe him.

"Oh good morning, sweetheart," Nessie said, jumping up from the table.

"Hello darling," I replied, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Nahuel, you're back. Where's your sister? Is she gonna be coming over soon for breakfast?" Nessie must have invited both of them over.

"No, I'm afraid Jennifer has decided to stay with my Aunt Huilen, in Brazil. She says she misses home too much."

"So you decided to come back here? Alone?" That didn't make much sense. Why would he do that?

Damn-it! Reality dawned on me a second later. He was back for what he couldn't have! I started to see red as my anger shot up.

"You don't seriously still think you still have a chance with her, do you?" How could he still be after my Nessie after all this time? We have two children together, for crying-out-loud.

"Relax, honey. It's not what you think," Nessie whispered in my ear after locking me in her arms. It was more of a hug than a restraint, but I knew she could hold on tighter if needed, but first she merely trying to calm me down. She knew me so well, even with her help I was struggling to gain control and not phase in the middle of the kitchen. _It's what I thought at first, too. But that's what we were just talking about. Nahuel knows that we're together, that we're in love, that he can never separate us. You know that, I know that, and he knows that,_ she added with her gift, I guess not wanting David to hear.

"Good morning everyone," Felicity called as she came waltzing into the kitchen, breaking some of the tension in the air. "Oh, hello," she smiled, seeing Nahuel for the first time.

Nahuel looked over to my daughter and I watched as his scowl, that my words to him had caused, lifted and a smile replaced it. "Ah, good morning, little darling. My you're growing up to be just as beautiful as your Mother," he replied as he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. "You must be Felicity. Renesmee has told me all about you. I'm a friend of your parents, I'll be seeing you around, I suspect. I live in the house right next door." Then he turned and looked at my still seething form and decided wisely that it was time for him to leave.

"What's going on guys? Why are you so mad at that guy, Dad?" Felicity asked us, after Nahuel left and she made her way over to the table, calmly grabbing a plate full of food for herself.

"That's Nahuel," David somehow managed to answer even with a mouth stuffed full of food. "Mom and him use to have a thing. Dad doesn't want us to know but he's a little jealous," he said stretching his hands out as far as they could go, "and worried that he's come back to steal Mom away," he chuckled.

Of course David had had seen everything, that had gone on between the three of us, in my mind, at some point, when we were phased.

"That's not why he's here," Nessie objected. "We're just friends now, so I don't want to hear any more on the subject."

I wished I could believe my Nessie. I'm sure she believed her own words, it's not like she would lie to me, but sometimes she was just so blind and gullible when it came to Nahuel.

But then as the real truth dawned on me, the realization was even worse, or at least equal in its horribleness. It can't be her that he wants. He just met her. There's no way. I'm just overreacting. _Calm down, calm down, calm down,_ I kept telling myself. No! Not Felicity, not my daughter!

Yet there was that kiss on her hand. Could it have been nothing more than just a friendly greeting? I didn't think anything of it at first, I was too obsessed, not with jealousy, like Dave had accused (I was the one who got Nessie, I had nothing to be jealous about) but annoyed with his impertinence, to think of anything else. But now... if that kiss meant something more... and the way he smiled at her… I was going to rip those lips right off of his face. That was my daughter. There was no way he was touching her.

"No," I seethed through clenched teeth, "he can't have her."

Nessie grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room and outside the house while I started picturing that day in the woods when Nessie appeared around fifteen years old. Nahuel was telling her how he thought she was old enough to become his mate. Argh! Felicity also looked like she was fifteen, even if she was really only five months old, depending on how you looked at it.

"Her?" Nessie questioned me now that we were outside and away from our children and all of the other breakable stuff in the house. She must have seen that she was no longer able to effectively calm me down and was worried I would phase in the middle of the kitchen. I couldn't argue that she was wrong. I might still burst into my Wolf form any minute now.

"Her who?" she asked again when I didn't answer right away.

"Felicity!" Wasn't it obvious? "Didn't you see the way he kissed her?"

"Oh please, Jake," she scoffed. "It was just her hand, he was just being friendly. Besides I know for a fact it isn't her that he's interested in. It's true that he's here because he's in love, but not with her. They just met after all. He came back for someone else entirely."

Someone else? "Who?"

"I don't know, he didn't say, but I think it's safe to assume that our daughter is safe from the scary, evil, Nahuel," she sarcastically admonished me.

"And you believe him?"

"Yes I do. You should have seen the look in his eyes when he was talking about her. He seems to be infatuated. Apparently they had been together before he left and he couldn't wait any longer to get back to her."

"But he never mentioned who she was?" That's strange. Could it be true? I hadn't realized he knew anyone else in the area. Sure, he'd lived on his own for a number of months. I guess he could have met someone back then. But why had he never mentioned her before? Or brought her around to meet everyone? "Is she a Vampire? Is that why he never introduced us to her?"

"Honey, I don't know. But for some reason he wants to keep her identity a secret, for now. He said he was afraid to lose her."

"Oh." I started to calm down. But not completely. It still felt like something was off about this.

* * *

A.N. Thanks for reading.

So what do you think? Can Nahuel be trusted? Do you believe him?

Please review and let me know.


	16. College and French

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Sixteen**

**College and French**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

The four of us were sitting in the movie room, watching some cheesy Hallmark flick Felicity had picked out. But I was having trouble focusing on the movie. Jake was smelling amazing, and being in this small space just seemed to be intensifying his scent. I couldn't do anything though. Not in front of our kids. Maybe we could slip away unnoticed?

Jake started moving closer to me. We were already sitting next to each other but now I was practically in his lap. Did he have the same idea?

He moved in and I thought he was going to start kissing me but instead he whispered in my ear. "I talked to Seth and Leah, yesterday." Taking in a deep breath, I tried to focus on what he was saying. Bad idea. Now I had to fight even harder to concentrate in his words and not what I'd rather be doing to him at the moment. "They agreed to watch Felicity and David during the times Nahuel is unavailable, while we're at school."

Damn he smells good. But what he was talking about was serious. There would be time for _other things_ later.

Sometime while I was pregnant with David (or possibly soon after he was delivered) my parents had made all the necessary arrangements, for Jake and me to take last year off from Dartmouth. And this year as well, if needed, but it looked like it wouldn't be necessary. It was only the eighth of October so it looked like we were going to be able to resume our studies this year, only needing to catch up on the first few weeks of the fall semester. It wasn't something a normal person could get away with doing, but money, charm, and our family's connections always seemed to smooth over any impediments we encountered. We'd already gotten in touch with the school and made the necessary arrangements to return to our classes on Monday.

With David and Felicity at home, we didn't want to be away from them too much, so this year - our senior year, we were going to be taking as many online classes as possible. We'd worked it out so that we only needed to actually go to the school two days a week, for three of our classes.

For their own safety David and Felicity would need to stay at home the entire time we were gone. No going out. No hunting. No answering the door. We lived far enough away from most people that someone randomly walking up to the front door was unlikely, but you never know.

"That's great," I finally managed to say, once he moved back a few inches and his scent wasn't so strong. My mind cleared enough that I could reply in a semi-coherent manner. "I was worried -"

"What? You think I need a babysitter?" David sneered, interrupting me from his seat across the small room. He'd overheard Jake and clearly wasn't too happy.

I knew he thought we were always treating him like a child, but how could we not? He was only a year old. He grew so fast. Faster than I ever did. Sure he looked like he was in his early twenties, so I could understand why he would think that way. I mean I was only seven, comparatively, but it was more than him, I guess, and Jake was over three times as old as I was, with much more life experience. His life experiences were practically nonexistent.

But what could we do? Apart from hunting and the occasional trip to the store we kept him and Felicity at home. The only contact he'd with other people was when my or Jake's family came to visit, or the trip to La Push when I gave birth to Felicity.

Felicity gave her brother a look, wordlessly letting him know that she wanted to hear the movie. David got up and came over to us, while waving his hand, suggesting she move closer to the screen and away from us. Once they both were reseated he began again, "I'm an adult and would appreciate it if you started treating me accordingly. I don't need a babysitter; I don't want to be cooped up here any longer. I'm more than capable of leaving the house to go to the store, or school, or even hunt on my own."

"No you're not," Jake and I whispered back to him, and attempted to calmly state our reasons why.

We went back and forth with David over and over, he listing his reasons and we doing the same, until we were all tired and angry. Our voices had risen a few times but Felicity never said a word.

We'd been talking in circles, none of us hearing the other anymore. No one willing to see the others point. No one willing to compromise.

"I have a idea," our son said, when none of us had spoken for a few minutes. David seemed to think that he wasn't expressing himself as well as he could and decided now that Felicity's movie was over, it might be easier to show us what he was talking about by having us watch some old television show he liked. Apparently it mirrored his life in some way.

I didn't know where this was going and had never watched one with him before. I didn't really understand it or what he thought he was going to get out of showing us some old show, but we agreed to watch the entire thing with him, well an episode or two.

Before David started one of the episodes he gave us an overview of the show, "to help us understand what he meant". It was one of those starship treckie shows from the '90s, the one with the female captain on it. There was this character who was an alien and her species only lived for something like six or seven years, so their entire lifespan was compressed. Now at least I could understand how he related to the show.

The female character grew to adulthood in only a single year, sort of like him, the only difference was she continued to age and David would stop soon (I hoped, it was still just a theory). But within that first year she went from being a baby, to a child, to a teen and finally to an adult and everyone treated her as such.

David felt like we should do the same with him. "I look like an adult, and act like an adult, I want to start being treated as such. Felicity and I are as smart as any adult you would meet on the street." That was true. They had eidetic memories, just like mine. They remembered everything they saw, heard, and read, and understood it all as well.

The more he talked the more I could understand what he was talking about. I'd felt the same way when I was younger. My mind developed so much faster than my body, I had the mental equivalent of an adult by the time I was a single year old as well, though I only looked like a six year old at the time.

Jake didn't feel so certain. I know that he thought David was too rash, too impulsive, too reckless. Our son had somehow managed to find the one stray Vampire in the woods around La Push and ran after it without waiting for backup. And then did the same thing here.

Personally, I wasn't sure which I more upset about - his putting himself in dangerous situations or the fact that he was killing our kind. Didn't he realize that he was part Vampire too? I know he did somewhere deep down inside, but it didn't seem to matter to him. According to David's way of thinking all Vampires (except for his family, he was finally softening to them) were murderers and all murderers needed to be destroyed.

But then what did that make him? Didn't that make him a murderer as well?

No! I refused to think of my son like that. David was good, just misguided. He wouldn't listen to us when we told him, asked him, begged him, pleaded with him to stop.

"David we realize you think you're an adult. We understand that, truly we do. It's just that when you do things that we know are dangerous it causes us to worry," Jake tried once again to explain.

"How am I ever going to prove to you that I'm adult if you never let me show you? I know I've made some mistakes in the past… when I was younger."

"No kidding," Jake huffed. "You tried to fight Jared out of his Alpha role only four months ago."

"I know. That was a mistake. A huge one. And I realize that that wasn't very long ago to you but it seems like forever ago to me. I was only nine months old at the time. I'm thirteen months old now; percentage wise that's almost fifty percent older. If I was human it would be like comparing a stupid teenager to a young adult. Can't you see -"

"Alright, alright," I cut him off. He made his point. "If you want to be treated more like an adult I guess we can work on that. If you want to go to college with us this year we should be able to arrange that," I told him after a quick whispered side chat with Jake.

He wouldn't be able to officially enroll at Dartmouth yet, having never applied, but we could look into seeing if he could audit a few classes.

The other option would be having him go to the same college as Leah. Even if he felt he was ready, we didn't want him to be completely on his own. He got along with her well enough and I knew she would be able to look after him. Of course, we would also need to get him some high school transcripts if he wanted to officially enroll next semester. It looked like I was going to have to make another trip back to Mr. Jenks.

"Awesome -" David beamed, before Jake cut him off.

"Now David, you can come to school with us but we're not going to be backing down on the hunting issue. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, needs to hunt with one other person, at the very least."

"Fine," Dave gave in, a bit pissed but he realized we wouldn't back down on that issue.

Jake looked like he was going to say something else to our son but then paused and looked over at me. "What do you think?" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and a smirk. "It was going to be a Christmas present for both of them, but I guess we could do it separately, and give him his early." Instantly I realized what he was talking about and nodded before quickly running to my bedroom and back.

"I believe this is yours," I told my son, while placing the license we'd obtained months ago, into his hand.

"A driver's license?" David face lit up, just for a second before a doubtful look took over. "What does this mean?"

"What do you think it means David? Your aging has slowed down enough so that you can go out in public more often now without everyone noticing how much you age from one day to the next," I explained.

"Really? That's awesome."

"Hold on there," Jake interjected, "this doesn't mean you get to go run off, whenever and wherever you feel like. You can use this to just go to school and back at first, and we'll see how you do. That and the occasional trip into town for a grocery or book run. We're not exactly ready to let you go gallivanting around, all over the state yet."

"But you will be, soon. Right?" he questioned us.

"Let's see how you do first," I reiterated to him.

"Wait. What am I going to drive?"

Really? My family left all of their cars here, when they moved to France. "Dave, the garage is full of cars, just pick one."

"But the smell -" he began, before I gave him a look that told him that he would just have to deal, he wasn't getting anything else.

Instead of continuing to argue he wisely sat down.

"You don't want to go to college too, do you?" I then hesitantly I asked our daughter, who had been quietly watching a second cheesy Hallmark movie she'd put on once Dave's TV show was over. She'd probably been listening to our entire conversation but didn't want to appear to eavesdrop. She had little choice to though since we were all in the same room.

I see now where we'd gone wrong with David. We've been too strict, too confining. He'd rebelled because of it… at least partially. Part was also due to youth and part was just him.

Our children needed room to grow. Maybe after the winter break, Felicity will look old enough to join us. She looked too young for college currently, but was still growing so fast.

"Oh, that's okay," she hedged. "Right now I'm fine at home. I can continue my studies online with the family."

"What about taking some online classes with us?"

"Oh, that could be fun," she eagerly replied. "If there's time," she amended. Felicity was right. She was already pretty busy with all of the online work my family gave her. But I'm sure we could work something out, decrease her family studies just a bit.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"Nessie, avez-vous commencé vos Francais devoirs, encore?" _(Nessie, have you started your French homework, yet?)_ I called to her in the living room. I needed to start my French assignment soon if I was going to finish it today, and if I was going to finish it before dinner, like I wanted, I was going to need her help. "Je pense que je vais avoir besoin de ton aide." _(I think I'm going to need your help.)_

"Um... okay. I'll be right there," she replied, but there was hesitation in her voice. She probably already finished hers and was just humoring me. But I still could use her help. A second later she was in the bedroom with me.

"Are you sure you're going to need my help, Jake? You seem to be doing fine with French."

"Ouais c'est vrai! Je peux même pas mettre deux mots un à la suite de l'autre." _(Yeah right! I can barely put two words together.)_

"Jake, you do realize that you're currently _speaking_ French, don't you?"

I am? "No, I'm not."

"Well, no not anymore, but you were. Here," she said as she handed me the French book, "why don't you try doing the homework assignment on your own and then I'll look it over and tell you how you did."

"Nessie, it's not nice to tease."

"Like you would ever know if I was teasing you Jacob", she said to me with a wink and then a sigh.

Huh? Well I hope she gets a good laugh after she reads over my translations. Of course it will be time to go to sleep by then and she'll probably be too tired to laugh.

As I worked on the assignment it didn't seem as hard as past ones and I was done before it even got dark out. The professor must be going easy on us this week.

"Alright Nessie, I'm done. Do you want to look at it or should we eat dinner first?"

"Um, Jake, that only took you twenty minutes, it's only a little after three in the afternoon. I think it's a bit early to eat," she said while she looked over my translation on the laptop.

Crap. I had a feeling my earlier conclusion was wrong. This assignment was just as hard as all the others and my paper was probably pure gibberish.

Oh, no. It looked like she was about to turn it in. "Nessie don't. I want a chance to fix the mistakes before submitting it."

"Relax, it doesn't need to be fixed. Everything was correct."

"That's impossible." I know French seemed a bit... _easy_ wasn't the right word, _less hard_, for me to pick up, compared to Spanish, and I'd actually been doing pretty well in it, so far this year, but it had never come easily to me.

"No look," she said pulling up her assignment, on the screen, next to mine. They looked nearly identical.

"Weird! I wonder how I'm suddenly understanding French so easily?" Of course I wasn't only speaking it but reading and writing it as well.

"Well it's the forth language you're learning. Aren't people supposed to pick up other languages more easily, the more they learn?"

"Yeah, but I'm only fluent in English and Quileute. Spanish is still a struggle."

"Okay but this is the third year you've been taking French, and we go over it every night, and you did hear me and my Father speak it years ago when he was teaching me. And you hear Dave and Felicity when they have their lessons as well. I'm sure a lot sunk in without you even realizing it." I guess she'd a point. "Also, it's not that different than Spanish, and you took that for what? Five years? Come on Jake give yourself a break, maybe something just clicked in your brain. You did a great job today. Lighten up," she finished, while playfully jabbing me in the arm.

"Sure, sure." But it still seemed a little strange, but who am I to complain.


	17. Unknown Mistakes

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Seventeen**

**Unknown Mistakes **

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

It was still weird how easy school, not just French, was turning out, to be for me this year, which was good because my life was exceptionally busier now that Nessie and I had the kids. There was also my Pack to think about.

Embry was back home, watching over his Imprint. We were still doing monthly Skype check-ins, so he wasn't too hard.

Leah was pretty self sufficient, but it still worried me that she never phased with me anymore. When we talked it was on the phone or in person. She said everything was fine, she just wanted some space. Outside of Alpha ordering her to Phase with me and completely invading her privacy (which I refused to do) I didn't see what else I could do.

Seth was the one I needed to devote the majority of my attention to currently. Not him exactly. He was doing great completing the needed construction on the house we were flipping. But he didn't know it was Nessie and I who were bankrolling the project, and paying him, and we wanted to keep it that way.

Last week after quickly and easily finishing my homework, I settled into the living room couch, with my laptop, and started the long process of wading through all of the applications I had received, for a new intermediary, to replace Jack Fisher. It was taking longer and was much harder than I had hoped. Okay, it wasn't actually _hard_, exactly. More like boring. So very, very boring.

I wish Esme were here, she would be able to find the perfect person for us in no time at all. She probably had five or six people she already knew who would be perfect. I thought about giving her a call but quickly changed my mind. I'd relied too much on her, and the rest of the Cullen's, to do everything for me - arranging birthday parties for Nessie and my kids, buying us all clothes, and making the arrangements for deferring and now restarting school, just to name a few. I was an adult and needed to start acting like it.

All I needed to do was find someone who was trustworthy. Someone that could communicate to Seth what we needed to have done on the house and then have them relay, to me and Nessie, anything that Seth told them - without blowing our secret involvement. Of course I couldn't say any of that in the ad, I didn't want to risk having Seth find out we were behind his employment.

The wording of the ad had seemed simple enough, if not a little vague. But I got a ton of responses, many more than I expected, so I guess I'd been worried for nothing.

.

_Liaison Needed_

_Independent. Flexible. Discreet._

_Available 4+ days a month._

_One on one personal attention required._

_Complete confidentiality a must._

_Exact details & requirements of job_

_& schedule may change as needed._

_Some travel required._

_Send letter of interest to email address provided._

_Only professionals need apply._

_._

At the bottom I listed an email address that Nessie and I'd created for any replies; just another precaution to keep our identities hidden from Seth.

I'd set up a few interviews for today, starting at three, and then one every half hour until six. The first candidate scheduled for today, a Ms. Crystal Price, seemed especially good, on paper at least. I kinda hoped she would be perfect and I could cancel the others and be done with it. But I doubted I would be that lucky.

"Hey Nessie, I'm going to head over, now." It was already two-forty and even though I was only going next door, I didn't want to arrive after her.

I thought it would be best to use the now empty house that Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper use to live in, to conduct these interviews. I hoped going over there would give me some privacy. I didn't need the interviewees accidentally seeing any supernatural occurrences, at either of the other houses.

Nessie dashed from the library to my side before I'd even finished my sentence. "Not so fast," she said as she pulled me back into the house before I even took a single step out the door.

"Is something wrong?"

"Not at all," she smirked, and I knew I was going to be late. Happy… but late.

Twenty-three minutes later I greeted Ms. Price at the door and showed her into the living room. David had called out when he saw her car pull up. After giving Nessie a kiss I was able to run into the other house through the back door. I'd hoped to have time to prepare, set up, I don't know exactly… do something to make it look like this wasn't my first time interviewing someone.

Oh well. I'll just have to fake it.

"Please have a seat," I said to her, indicating the chair I'd quickly placed in front of the couch I settled myself into.

Ms. Price was younger than I thought she'd be. Judging by her resumé it seemed like she had years of experience, but she didn't look any older than me. She was dressed professionally, in a charcoal grey suit. Her skirt seemed a little shorter than would generally seem appropriate for a job interview, but I wasn't the one wearing it, so who was I to judge. It's not like I was going to say anything to her either. But her shirt… I really didn't think much of it until she then took her jacket off, revealing how low-cut it was.

Nessie had a similar one she wore when she was younger. She stopped wearing it as she had, err... developed; Bella deemed it no longer _appropriate_.

I didn't care what Ms. Price wore; I didn't really care what she looked like. All I cared about was if she could do the job or not. My goal was to get the interview over with, see if she would work out, and move on, so I could get back to Nessie and the kids as quickly as possible.

Then again, I guess the clothes a person wore went towards their qualifications.

I wanted to appear completely professional, myself. And I also didn't want to scare the woman away by my appearance so I'd put on a polo shirt, a pair of khakis, and even some shoes.

After moving to New Hampshire with the Cullens I would only Phase once every week, when Nessie hunted, but since David's birth, I needed to phase daily and had adopted a uniform similar to my La Push days - Alice's expanding shorts, no shirt and no shoes. I only got completely dressed nowadays when going to school or the store. And today.

I'd also prepared a list of interview questions, and even remembered to shove them in my pants pocket, as I ran out the door on my way over here. Now, as my hand fished around in my pocket to retrieve them, I was unused to the tightness of these pants, and not wanting to tear them, was having difficulty retrieving the paper.

Part of my mind registered that the Ms. Price had gotten out of her seat, but I was too preoccupied to pay much more attention to what she was doing. She must be bored waiting around for me to start the interview, or thought I was a complete idiot, while I fished around for the questions.

Before I could stop her, or even realized what she was doing, she'd leapt into my lap, and was straddling me on the couch, while attempting to take off her shirt.

What the hell? "I... um, I'm sorry, err... Miss," I stammered, once I finally got out of the shock I was in. "I think... I think you've got the wrong idea about things," I continued as I grabbed her arms to prevent her from taking off any more clothing than she already had.

Apparently, as I came to realize, much too late, she was some sort of professional escort, or at least a professional... something.

She was fast… faster than I expected. I wasn't making much headway trying to get her off of me, and not hurt her. She wasn't a Vampire, or anything else the Wolf in me perceived as dangerous, but that was wrong. She was dangerous; a succubus… just of the human variety.

I heard the front door open and close, but wasn't sure if I was more grateful or agitated by whoever was here. Not that I wanted to get caught in a compromising position but I would be glad for a way to extricate myself from the current situation even if it was going to be embarrassing for me… and them.

But who was it that walked in? Nessie or one of our kids? Whoever it was, they sure were taking their time making their way into the living room.

After three agonizing minutes, of my fruitless attempts to talk the _woman_ off of me, who else but Nahuel appeared in the doorway. Great that's all I needed. Damn-it!

I'm pretty sure the shock on his face seeing me with my arms on another woman was similar to the shock I felt myself, for having them there.

"Look darling," Ms. Price cooed, eyeing Nahuel, "if this is going to be a threesome then this little arrangement of ours is going to cost a lot more."

Eww! "Um... no that won't be -" Yikes! My voice trailed off mid sentence. I can't even... how am I even having this conversation?

"What's all this?" Nahuel has the audacity to smirk. Clearly I wasn't going to be getting any help from him. And now I realized that he might be bringing even more trouble for me.

"Nahuel, what -" I didn't even know what to say. How was I supposed to explain myself and this ridiculous, absurd, situation to him? "What are you doing here?" I asked, not being able to think of anything else. Ms. Price was still on my lap

Before he even got a chance to speak again Ms. Price started pawing at me and tried to shove her tongue down my throat. Not having any of that, I gently, as to not hurt her, but firm enough that she couldn't break free, grabbed her waist, lifting her up, off of my lap, before throwing her jacket back at her.

"I'm sorry Ms. Price, I think you've gotten the wrong idea and you need to leave now."

"So I guess you and Renesmee aren't as tight as I thought you were," Nahuel sneered.

Oh, good grief!

Nahuel wiggled his finger between the two of us, "Does she know you're doing this?"

"No... I'm not... it's nothing like that." Did he really think that? He knew I Imprinted on her. He knew what that meant. "You're completely misreading the situation. This was just supposed to be an interview."

He knew I was conducting interviews to replace Fisher, right? I know he'd been told the story of what had happened between him and Nessie and I really didn't feel like going into everything at this time.

"An interview? Is that what you call it? Ha! Yeah, sure, that's exactly what it looked like to me. I use to conduct a lot of interview myself," he smirked before turning and leaving me alone, well almost. I still had to get rid of Ms. Price.

It ended up costing me $400, but it was well worth it just to get her to leave. Once she was finally gone I ran straight home. If I thought for a minute she wouldn't follow I wouldn't have even bothered paying her.

Who knows what Nahuel was telling Nessie and I didn't need to give him any more ammo. Nahuel had an eight minute head start and probably had already told Nessie everything he saw.

"Nahuel would you mind giving us some privacy?" Nessie snapped as I entered the house.

Crap!

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I could help you hold Jacob down while you kick him a few times," the jerk chuckled.

"I don't think that will be necessary. I can handle this," Nessie replied to him, before she rather quickly swept him out the door.

Seriously? She believed Nahuel?

"Nessie... Renesmee, please you have to believe me, nothing happened. I didn't -"

"Jake, stop!" She then called our kids and I gasped. She wouldn't tell them would she? "Can you two run to the store for me and buy a few steaks for dinner?"

Oh, thank goodness. Steak was their favorite so they practically fell over themselves running out the door.

Once they were gone I started again to try to explain myself. "I swear. I was just -"

"JACOB!" she shushed me, cutting off my attempt to explain, for a second time. Crap! "Just show me the ad you placed." Her words held no emotion. They came out sharp and quick.

Wordlessly I retrieved my laptop and opened the ad.

Nessie read it and huffed. What was wrong with the ad? "Now show me the reply she sent you."

As I reread her reply I realized that I should have been able to figure out what Ms. Price was, but she seemed so nice and friendly on the phone. I really thought she was qualified for what we needed, when I read her email innocently, like I had the first time. But I guess it could have been taken a completely different way by someone who was looking for _that_ kind of a service.

Once Nessie finished reading, she did the exact opposite of what I assumed.

I expected her to see that I was innocent in all of this and forgive me. I was hoping she would realize that Nahuel had been wrong and led her to the wrong conclusions. I believed that she would see that I loved her and only her, and would never want to be with anyone else.

Nahuel had clearly told her the _truth_ in what he saw, and it wasn't like I could say it didn't happen. Worst case scenario I imagined that I would to have to grovel a bit. After all, I had been caught with a half naked woman on top of me.

But none of that was what happened. I wasn't expecting her response. Her laughter completely took me by surprise.

"You're... you're not mad?"

"Of course not. I'm your Imprint. I know the bond we share and how you feel about me. You're mine, just as much as I'm yours; your one and only, yours," she replied as she began kissing me.

Thank goodness.

Wait, something was still bothering me. "Then why did you snap when I got here? Before I could explain… You sent the kids away."

"Oh. My Jacob, I wasn't angry at you. I was irritated at Nahuel, thinking that you would do something like that. That's why I sent David and Felicity to the store. I didn't want him talking to them and spreading his lies. He knows, just as I do, how much you and I love each other. And even if you had never Imprinted on me, I don't think you're the type to cheat. And with a hooker no less... please," she snickered.

"Why would I want that when I already have perfection?"

"Perfection? Yeah right," she chuckled again, but I didn't think it was funny.

"Yes, you're definitely perfection, sweetheart, just as much as we're perfect for each other. Imprinting or not. Do you remember when you were little, when I took you to First Beach? Embry even mentioned it way back then. He said something to you like '_Wow, you really are perfect for Jake. You think with your stomach too_,'" I laughed, while adding how Seth started snickering, Leah fidgeted, like she was trying not to laugh, and a few other minor details.

"Yeah, I do remember him saying that. But he wasn't actually correct. Wait..." she gave me a strange look, "I remember him saying _exactly_ that."

"What?" I don't think I was remembering things wrong. She just said I remembered it right. Exactly right, actually. It had happened years ago and I remember everything about that day, word for word, the sights, the smells, the tastes, what she was wearing, what I was wearing, actually every single detail. Wow, that's strange.

"Jake, you just remembered something from six years ago perfectly," she replied, echoing my thoughts.

"Yeah, I know. Weird, I guess it was a really special memory to me and got burned into my brain or something." But it wasn't really, it was just some random thing had happened one day. I hadn't even thought about it since then.

"Okay, I give in, I guess we really are perfect for each other," she'd chuckled. "Now hand me the laptop so I can rewrite that ad, Jake."

A week later I was sifting through my inbox, full of insanely boring, but probably more appropriate, legitimate resumés.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

How had things gotten so bad? It was never like this before, not with my Aunt Alice here. I guess I hadn't really understood or appreciated exactly how much she'd done for me. And it took her being gone, for a year, for me to fully realize it.

My closet was a disaster!

We were already an hour into cleaning and it still looked like a mess. David and Felicity had graciously agreed to help me, but now I think that they wished they hadn't. It didn't look like we would be done anytime soon. So far we'd only sorted my clothes into styles. There was the dresses – sundresses, short sleeve casual, long sleeve casual, fancy, and ball gown (when would I ever even need those Aunt Alice?). Then they needed to be separated by length, above the knee, mid knee, below knee, mid calf, ankle, and floor length. And then finally by color.

And that was just the dresses. I still needed to organize my skirts, shorts, pants, Capri's, and jeans, just for the bottoms alone.

Argh.

Blouses, t-shirts, tank tops, sweaters, button ups, pullovers, turtle necks, jackets, bathing suits - the list went on and on.

I wouldn't have even bothered, but it had gotten so bad in here that I couldn't find anything to wear, that matched, yesterday. It probably wouldn't have really mattered to the average person, it wasn't like I would be going out and seeing a ton of people. Jake and I mostly spent our days at home, with the kids. But I'd been raised, at least partially, by my Aunt Alice and had a healthy (some might say unhealthy) respect for clothes and fashion. I wasn't obsessed with it like she was, but it irked me when I was so un-put together. I was raised to have respect for and take pride in my appearance, not to the point of superficiality, but to dress respectably and not look like a slob. And I couldn't do that if my closet stayed in its current condition.

Three hours later, we'd gotten everything organized and re-hung in my closet. Three hours, ugh, that was pathetic. I knew my Aunt could have had it done in forty minutes, tops. But she enjoyed this sort of thing and was better at it than me. Hell, even my Mother would have been able to do it in under two hours; having been practically groomed by Aunt Alice for the past seven years. They were best friends after all.

It wasn't like my clothes were just lying around on the floor, I'd washed them after wearing them and then re-hung them in my closet, it's just that there was so many of them and they gotten put back in no particular order, just hung on any available open space I found.

Unfortunately, even after all this time, my children and I hadn't even broken the surface of what needed to be done in here. We'd only addressed the hanging clothes, the drawers and the shelves hadn't been touched yet, not to mention the shoes, purses, belts, scarves, hair accessories, and jewelry.

Ouch! I think I was giving myself a headache. Not everything was going to get done today.

At first I'd been upset with Jake for seemingly ducking out, claiming he was still sorting through intermediary resumés. Really, it couldn't be taking him this long... could it? Normally we loved doing everything together, but now I realized that he was actually pretty smart not to get involved in this. It was torture.

I have a feeling I'll be able to persuade him to help me later though - _organizing_ my lingerie. I had a lot of that as well, and not just the everyday items in my bra and panty drawer, I had a special section that I'd take out on special occasions, many of which Jake had never seen. I get Jake to help me tonight, after the kids go to bed, I plan on giving him a little fashion show in the process. He'll like that. And so will I.

Now that I think of it, the kids and I should probably just skip all of the drawers for right now; I really don't need my kids sorting through my underwear, or even seeing it, even by mistake. Instead we moved on to the shelves.

We'd been going at a pretty good pace for over an hour. I'd asked the kids if they wanted to take a break, but they declined, probably just wanting to get this over with and never agree to do it again.

"What's this?" David cautiously lifted the lid on a box he found.

"I'm not sure. What's inside?"

He held up a gaudy necklace with a chunky gold rope chain and a giant crystal, almost the size of a golf ball, hanging below. While it sparkled beautifully in the sunlight, the one and only time I'd ever actually seen it outside, when my Mother had worn it during our encounter with the Volturi, that first year of my life, it wasn't really my taste and I wasn't sure why my Mother had even given it to me. Not that she had; technically, it just ended up in my room one morning for me to play with when I was little. But once it had become apparent to my family that I was terrified of the Volturi coming back for me, when I started having nightmares, the necklace just disappeared one day as wordlessly as it had first appeared. Someone obviously had boxed the thing up and stashed it away, but how it ended up in my closet was a mystery. The only thing I could think of was that since it was _mine_ whoever had done it thought I would possibly want it someday.

I didn't.

"You can just shove it back on the shelf." I had intentionally not thought of that horrible day, or the necklace, in years and didn't want to start now.

"You don't want to put it with your other jewelry?" David asked.

"It's not really my style. I don't think I'd ever wear it." And I don't think my Mother ever would again, either. I don't know why she even had back then; it didn't go with her outfit. But I knew her fashion sense wasn't as advanced as it was now, not having the past seven years of Aunt Alice's tutelage. "Do you want it, Felicity?"

"Um... no. That thing belongs in the box," she scrunched up her face to emphasize exactly how much she didn't want the hideous bobble.

"Okay," I chuckled; glad her fashion sense was prevailing without the benefit of Aunt Alice by her side. But then again where did my Mother get the thing in the first place? Who had gotten it for her? I didn't see her picking it out herself.

It couldn't have been my Father, could it? No. He had better taste than that. Oh well. None of them were here to ask, and I didn't really care that much anyway.

Back to cleaning and organizing.

"Oh, I found another box!" Felicity exclaimed a little bit later. She had to stand on the closets ladder to even see on top of the highest shelf and was stretching with all of her might, but would still probably never be able to reach far enough to get whatever was back there.

Luckily David was never far from his little sister, always there to lend her a helping hand, with whatever she needed. He, of course, now well over 6'5", almost as tall as his Dad, didn't even need the ladder to grab whatever his sister had found. She seems to have inherited little of my or Jake's height, reaching only to 5'5" on her best days. Still she was an inch taller than my Mom, but well under my 5'9" frame. She was seven months old now, and appeared as an eighteen year old so she was probably done growing.

"What is it?"

"Probably more shoes," David huffed. We'd been finding long forgotten shoe boxes all over the closet, and there was a growing stack of them in the corner.

But this wasn't a shoe box. It was the Memory Box that Billy had given to Jake when he first moved with us. I hadn't seen it in years, not since its first arrival. I hadn't thought Jake would get rid of it, but had no idea, until now, what had happened to it. "Oh, that's your Father's. Just put it back where you found it, please."

"What's in it?"

"I don't know. He's never shown me."

"Why not? Is he hiding something in here?" Felicity wondered, turning the box around in her hands, but not opening it.

"Eww," David grinned from ear to ear. "Do you think Dad has a hidden porn stash in there? Open it up. Let's see if he has any dirty magazines."

"Don't be ridiculous, David," Felicity grunted. "You know Dad Imprinted on Mom, he would never do that."

"No he wouldn't, now put it back. And where did you learn about porn anyway?" I questioned my son.

"Uncle Paul," he said, shrugging his shoulders, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But he Imprinted on Aunt Rachel. Why would he have that and why would he show you?" Felicity gasped. She was right, he would have as little reason for it as Jake would.

"I didn't say he showed me anything, I just needed his advice about something and the subject came up," David jeered back.

"You're so disgusting. I can't wait for you to Imprint on someone. Maybe then you won't be so much of a pervert when you do," my daughter teased him, as she smacked her brother on the back of his head, just like Aunt Rose did with her husband, whenever Uncle Emmett said something stupid or crude. Then the inevitable cat and mouse game commenced as David ran after Felicity throughout the house, to try and capture his sister, which always seemed to end in a tickle or food fight; the two of them rolling on the floor in hysterics, until they had to stop to breath.

I shook my head and started laughing as I thought about how those two sometimes acted more like their actual one year old selves instead of the adults they now appeared to be.

Well, the shelves were done, and my helpers had abandoned me. I could see it was time to quit my closet organization for the day. And with that I set out to find Jake. Following his scent, I found him at my Aunts and Uncles old house. Hmmm. He smelled even yummier than he normally did. I wonder if he was using a new kind of soap?

* * *

**A.N. ** So I know this chapter might just seem like a silly nonsense filler chapter, but the events that happened in it are going to have dramatic consequences in future chapters.

What do you think? Please review.


	18. The Box and More Mistakes

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Eighteen**

**The Box and More Mistakes**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"Hi honey, all done?" Jake asked, wearily looking up from his laptop. I guess he really was still going through the responses from the now _appropriate_ ad we placed, looking for a suitable replacement, for Jack Fisher.

"Just taking a break. I'm going to need your help later though." That caused his face to fall until I grabbed his hand and used my gift to show him a little preview of what I'd planned (the lingerie I wanted to model for him) before we got to work, reorganizing my bra and panty drawer. Just like I thought, he cheered up immediately.

"Come on," he jumped up and started pulling me towards our house. "Let's go organize that closet."

I pulled back and stopped him. "Not yet. The kids are still awake. Wait until after they've gone to bed." He looked disappointed but I could tell he understood. "Right now I wanted to show you something else. I'm very concerned and not sure what we should do." Before waiting for a response I showed him a replay of the discussion I'd just had with David - about Paul and porn. I thought he would have gotten upset, I surely had, but Jake just started laughing. "Why aren't you more upset about this?"

"Nessie, honey, David is a normal guy. This is not something to be concerned about. You know I can see into his head. I know all about the stash of dirty magazines he has hidden under his mattress that he thinks he's hiding from me. Trust me this is perfectly normal."

"What... I... but -" I didn't know what to say. Was this normal for men? Really? Where did he even get those types of magazines?

"He ordered them online and had 'em shipped next door," Jake answered. Damn-it, I still had my hand in his. "Please calm down. Believe me, it's perfectly normal and very innocent. I would actually be concerned if he didn't have anything. Trust me on this one, please."

I just nodded. I guess I would have to believe Jake on this, as disgusting and appalling as it sounded.

"If it makes you feel better I'll have a talk with him, tonight, after dinner… about uh… the birds and the bees; Felicity too," he sighed. "But right now-" Jake's expression changed, to a smirk, as he resumed leading me back to our house.

"Jake, I told you we needed to wait until the kids go to bed."

"No Ness," he chuckled, "that's not what I meant. I want to show you what's in my memory box, you deserve to know."

"Oh honey, no I don't. It's yours, it's something that seems to be very private for you, I'm sure if there was anything in there that I needed to know about you would have told me already."

"Nevertheless, I don't want to have any secrets from you. You're my soulmate. I should have never kept the box from you in the first place."

As we walked back to our house we passed a just arriving Leah. I was so glad she'd become such good friends with Felicity.

"Hi Leah," Jake called.

"The kids are inside," I added. "Be careful, or you might be tackled by two whipped cream covered monsters," I half-laughed, half-warned her.

"I'm sure I can handle them," she sneered and took off.

Huh? That was weird. I thought she would have been in a better mood; she loved hanging out with our daughter.

"That girl has some issues," Jake just huffed, more to himself than me, before grabbing my hand and continuing to head upstairs.

When we got to the closet he took down his memory box, and showed me its contents, item by item, from the first baby tooth he lost, through his report cards his Father had saved, to pictures of his Mother and Father on their wedding day.

There were a bunch of other pictures in there of his family – one of Jake, Rachel, and Rebecca when they were younger, I'm guessing when Jake was about seven or so, another of Billy and Sarah, shortly before she died, and one of his sister Rebecca and her husband. There was also a collection of other family member's photos - Grandparents, cousins, etc... some in color, other, older ones, in black and white. There was one of Rachel, Paul and Jeremy and another of their new twins.

The box also contained his high school diploma and acceptance letter to Dartmouth that Jake must have put in. And other things that must have been added by Billy – a family tree, a lock of Jake's baby hair, and his first attempt at a Wolf carving… at least he told me it was supposed to be a Wolf, it kind of looked like a deformed squirrel. There was also something in there that Jake told me was a _requisite,_ handmade clay ashtray with "I Love Mom" scratched into it.

Some of the items surprised me. He had the second tooth I'd ever lost. My parents have the first. And a carving he'd made of me as a baby.

He also had a picture Aunt Rose took of David, still as a Wolf, just after I'd given birth to him, and another just after Jake had gotten him to phase back. He also had the positive pregnancy test I'd shown him for Felicity.

"I found it, once we'd returned home from La Push. The box was still resting atop the piano," he told me when I picked it up. "I hope you don't mind that I took it."

"No, I'm glad you saved it. I was wondering what happened to it though," I chuckled back to him. I'd actually wanted to save it myself, but when I didn't find it I figured it had gotten thrown out by my family or something.

"What's this?" I asked holding up a small plastic baggie with tiny scraps of string in it.

"End remnants from the promise bracelet I made for you," he replied grabbing my wrist and showing me how the colors matched. "I snipped the ends to make them even once I finished weaving it, to give it a cleaner look."

Jake was more sentimental about things like this than I ever realized. Every item in his box held such significance.

But the thing that surprised me the most, the thing Jake saved to take out and show me last was Billy's late wife's engagement ring.

"I thought when the time was right, that I would give it to David. It should be kept in the family," he added barely above a whisper.

I wasn't sure why, but it looked like Jake was trying not to cry. "That's a perfect idea," was all I said, though. If he wanted to talk about anything that was bothering him, I knew he would bring it up.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"Help! Somebody help!" Nahuel screamed from somewhere outside.

Damn-it! Couldn't I watch one football game in peace? What could that jerk possibly want now?

I finally had nothing to do. I'd _finally_ found a new intermediary, okay so it had only been six days but still… I had also finished all of my school work, the kids were off grocery shopping (I think it was more an excuse to leave the house than anything), and Nessie was upstairs reorganizing her underwear drawer. We never made it beyond the first outfit last week and after the third attempt I'd been forbidden from _helping_ again. But she was right; those drawers would never get organized if she kept modeling outfits for me.

A moment later Nahuel burst through my front door carrying a limp, unconscious, and very naked Leah.

"What the hell happened?" I asked running towards him from the living room couch, my forgotten popcorn now splattered all over the floor.

Then I saw it - a bite mark right above her collarbone, next to her neck.

That bastard had bitten her! Nahuel was venomous. It was poison to Wolves. She was dying. Oh crap. What the hell was I going to do? It wasn't like I could suck out the venom; it was poison to me too.

And what the hell was wrong with Nahuel? After laying Leah on the couch he curled up in a ball and began rocking himself back and forth like a baby. He was practically catatonic, except that he was mumbling something; it was hard to tell but I think it was something like - "I didn't -" and "I'm sorry, please... I don't want... die" and I think I even heard a "forgive me" in there between sobs.

Was he kidding? Was he really begging me for his life? Now? Did he think that since he brought her back, and didn't dump her lifeless body in a ditch somewhere, that I wouldn't kill him for this? I knew they hated each other, but trying to kill Leah was beyond tolerable.

I would have to deal with him later though. Right now I had to somehow figure out a way to save Leah's life.

"Nessie! Nessie!" I started screaming. In a flash she was by my side. She took one look at Leah's near lifeless body and immediately understood the situation, but dashed out of the room as quickly as she came in.

Huh?

Seven seconds later she was back with a syringe in her hand and plunged it into Leah's heart. What the hell was that? It couldn't be more venom, like Edward had used to change Bella. The metal syringe looked the same, but Nessie knew venom didn't change Wolves, she knew it would kill us. Instead of asking I started screaming for her to suck the venom out. Why wasn't she doing that?

"No, Jake. Look at her; it's too late for that. But I think this will work. Before my family left," she explained to me, "my Grandfather told me about this," she pointed to the syringe. "It's an anti-venom that he developed just in case he ever needed it for you. He made it using your own blood; it's tied to your DNA. I just hope Leah's related enough to you that it will work on her too."

Before too long I saw that Nessie's theory was right. Leah's breathing was returning to normal, her heartbeat was picking back up, and the wound on her neck was beginning to heal; slower than Wolves normally heal; but healing just the same. After breathing a sigh of relief I glared at Nahuel.

This feud between the two of them was beyond ridiculous. And now Nahuel had actually tried to kill her.

On the bright side now I finally would be able to do what I'd wanted to for years.

I didn't care if we were in the living room.

I didn't care what furniture was damaged.

All I cared about was ENDING NAHUEL.

He'd hurt, NO, he'd tried to KILL a member of MY Pack. MY FAMILY!

This was it. It was time for him to DIE.

In one breath I leapt away from Leah and Nessie, phased into my Wolf form, and pounced onto Nahuel's chest.

"No," I barely heard the weak plea from Leah, still lying behind me, as my teeth were closing around Nahuel's throat, to rip his worthless head off. Her voice was almost inaudible, so low I barely even heard it over my growls, even with my enhanced Wolf ears. Why didn't she want me to kill him? He'd obviously tried to kill her. I didn't respond directly to her, but I didn't bite either, choosing to back off a couple inches and growl at the soon to be pile of ash.

"No," she cried again, slightly stronger than the last time, but still incredibly weak. "I... I love him. Don't... hurt him... please. It was an accident," she said, growing stronger with each word.

What? An accident? Yeah right. How do you accidentally bite someone?

Wait did she say she loved him? But they hated each other. What the hell was going on?

Just then I noticed that Nahuel was in his boxers and it dawned on me what they must have been doing when this "accident" occurred.

Eww, gross. I cringed as I backed off of him and phased back.

"Leah, are you -" Nahuel cried, finally snapping out of his daze and crawling over to her. "I thought I'd killed you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry, I just... I wanted to keep... I wanted us to be together, forever. I wanted to make you immortal like me."

"She already is immortal, you idiot!" I screamed at him.

"She is? You are?" He seemed shocked as he looked from me to Leah and Nessie and then back to Leah.

"As long as she continues to phase, which is something that you would have known if you had bothered to ask her."

Nahuel ignored me and began hugging and placing gentle kisses on Leah's face as tears fell down his own. I could feel the bile rising in my stomach as he deepened their kisses. It was beyond... strange to see the two of them like this. It just seemed so messed up, so wrong, so gross.

Nessie had covered Leah in a blanket and we watched as her condition continued to improve over the next twenty minutes.

Nessie was using whatever medical training Carlisle had taught her over the years to monitor Leah's condition. The look on her face had me worried. "Something's wrong," she finally said. "The venom's been neutralized but I think she's lost too much blood," Nessie said, looking at her now closed neck wound.

"What?" Glaring at Nahuel, I growled again. "You DRANK from her?" But it wasn't really a question, more of an accusation. "You do not need to drink to change a person. Why -"

"I... I... I..." he stammered. "It was habit."

Habit?

Habit!

"HABIT!" I don't remember what happened next, but the next thing I knew I was back into my Wolf form and Nahuel was lying unconscious on the floor with a deep gash across his neck.

I don't think I'd killed him, but if he didn't survive I'll apologized to Leah later. She never Imprinted on him, she'd get over it... eventually. And thinking back to Nessie's recovery after giving birth to David, I'm pretty sure the bastard would survive.

"She passed out again, Jake. What are we going to do now?"

We still had some blood in the freezer next door, that Carlisle had re-stocked last time the Cullen's had visited for Nessie's birthday. Blood expired, right? Was it still good? It had only been a month. And it was frozen so it was probably okay. I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but there weren't a lot of options. We couldn't exactly take Leah to the hospital with her one hundred-eight degree body temperature. And I didn't know how we could explain her being down a few pints now that the wound was gone.

After phasing back to two feet I gently picked Leah up and carried her over to Carlisle's old office, where the frozen blood was, along with all of the first aid stuff, and medical equipment. Grabbing five of the bags I zapped them in the microwave.

Smelling the blood, Nessie's thirst kicked in, but she managed to fight it and start a drip. After the second bag Leah's condition began to improve. And after the forth she was almost back to normal.

Now that I knew she would be fine, I allowed myself a chance to think.

This explained Leah's recent strange behavior. I'd been wondering how she found out about the... _incidence_ with Ms. Price. I certainly didn't tell her and I know Nessie hadn't either. And to the best of my knowledge we also had been able to keep it from the kids. I hoped so, anyway.

I hadn't even considered Nahuel as her source, the thought of the two of them voluntarily _talking_ to each other, even to spread gossip seemed highly unlikely to me.

And while she never confronted me about it she'd been giving me strange looks for over a week, now. At the time I'd wished she would just phase with me, just once, so we could clear up any confusion. But every time I'd caught her as a Wolf she immediately phased back.

I hadn't been entirely sure if she really knew or not, and I didn't want to verbally bring it up and stick my foot in my mouth and embarrass myself, and possibly her as well, if she didn't.

I guess once she's better I'll have to have a talk with her and let her know the truth and not just what Nahuel told her. Damn. This was going to be awkward. Nahuel was a jerk, but she apparently, for some unknown, inconceivable reason, loved him.

Would this new information change anything between them? Would the events of today? I mean I know she didn't want me to kill him, but surely she wouldn't continue seeing him after this. Right?

Leah deserved to be happy. Especially after all the crap she'd been through with Sam. Not to mention having her life turned upside down when she became a Wolf. Now this.

Maybe I shouldn't even bring it up.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

I thought Jake might actually become friends with Nahuel one day, but things kept happening that pushed them more and more apart. How much was this incident with Leah was going to set them back? Maybe one day, now that all competition between them, over me, was gone, it might happen. At the very least they could start being civil to each other.

"So… you and Leah?" I didn't want to influence anything Nahuel was going to say, but also wanted to know if what he said the other day was true or if he was just trying to keep Jake (or me) from killing him.

He blushed and I knew that he had been telling the truth yesterday. He didn't even need to say anything, but I had asked and he answered. "I never thought it would happen," Nahuel told me. "Leah is amazing. I finally found my mate, the one I'll be with forever." I don't think I've ever seen him smile so much.

"Renesmee…" Nahuel hesitated.

"What is it?" I could tell there was something important he wanted to tell me.

"I wanted to explain…" he trailed off again. "The reason I did what I did yesterday… Why I bit Leah, it's… well we were making love, and after a few round she told me that even though she hadn't Imprinted on me she thought I was who she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with. She knows what I am. I thought she was asking me to… I honestly didn't know what my Venom would do to her. I wanted to change her so we could always be together. I didn't know she was already immortal."

He looked so guilty. And sad.

They were two immortal creatures. Vampires and Half-Vampires mated for life. If what Nahuel told me was true then he was eternity bonded to Leah now. Did she realize everything that that implied? Only Leah's possible future Imprinting could split them up. If that happened I wasn't sure what it would do to Nahuel.

Until then it meant that she and Nahuel would be in our lives, in one form or another… always. Nahuel couldn't live in La Push, so Leah would have to be in Jake's Pack.

After dinner that night Jake and I discussed the _situation_ and compared notes on what I had found out.

Jake thought it would be best to talk to Leah about it, make sure she knew exactly what she'd gotten herself into, even if it was too late to do much about it. Since Jake was her Alpha, he assumed he was the best person to do it. But I disagreed. Leah and I'd never been friends exactly. Actually she barely tolerated me, but this was a conversation that needed to take place between two women. And Jake wasn't even close to happy about the whole situation.

"How are you feeling?" I asked from her bedside. We'd set up, yet another, makeshift hospital room in Carlisle's office. I was starting to question why we kept reverting it back and forth. Leah was still recovering, and was just now waking up.

"Nahuel?" she panicked, jerking her body to a sitting position on the medical cot.

"No, no. Calm down. He's alive," I assured her, gently pushing her back down before she could hurt herself. While she was out I'd called my Grandfather and explained everything that had happened. He seemed convinced that she would make a full recovery, but would need to rest for a day or two.

"What happened?" she asked, after taking a deep sigh of relief. "Where am I?"

"Carlisle's office. How much do you remember?"

"I didn't hit my head," she scoffed, "I just need to know what happened while I was out."

Charming as ever. Maybe Jake was right and he should have been the one to talk to her. Oh well.

"We brought you up here. You had lost too much blood and I needed to give you a transfusion. There was some donated blood still in the freezer here. You should be back to normal by tomorrow, but it took four entire bags to replace what Nahuel drank."

"Oh, well thanks." It seemed like it was a struggle for her to even get the words out. Sheesh.

After that I explained about the syringe, since she was concerned about what I'd injected her with, and then I closed my eyes, too chicken to look at her when I spoke, while I asked her about her and Nahuel.

"Don't worry, little girl," she sneered at me. "Getting almost eaten wasn't exactly the highlight of my day, but look on the bright side, this is better than some stupid Imprinting. I got a choice. I got to pick who I wanted to spend eternity with. No one was forced on me."

It was strange, while Nahuel hadn't realized about her immortality, she'd gone into this – whatever it was, fully understanding what she was getting into. I guess that made sense. She'd already known everything, about my relationship with Jake. She had a backstage pass to all of the intricacies of our relationship; she saw everything in Jake's mind over the years. Much to my relief, sort of, she already understood that since Nahuel saw her as his true mate, they would be stuck together, forever.

She'd always said that she was over Sam, but now I was beginning to wonder. Did she _really_ love Nahuel? Or was she just looking for someone who wouldn't, couldn't leave her... again?

I wasn't going to play her game though. I wasn't going to lash out, and yell back at her, and I certainly wasn't going to let her upset me.

But why was she trying to hurt me? Was that even her intention, to make me feel bad? Convince me that Jake didn't have a choice, that he didn't really choose me and didn't actually love me? Well it didn't work. I knew Jake and I truly loved each other. We belonged together.

And maybe they did as well. The more I thought about it the more it seemed to me that they belonged together. They were these two lost souls that just needed to find someone as desperate for love as they were.

It took a lot of coaxing on my part, but eventually, I got Leah talking, almost civilly.

She told me that their _relationship_ had started last Christmas. That was a shock.

"We tried to keep everyone from finding out about us." No kidding. She and Nahuel had fooled everyone into thinking they hated each other.

I couldn't think of why they'd want to do that. "Why?"

"Oh please," she snorted. "Jake hates Nahuel, and he's your ex. Nahuel dumped you. And you can't stand me. Why would either of you want to see us happy?"

I was going to object, but she kept going.

"That's why Nahuel brought Jennifer to Brazil last year. Introducing her to his Aunt's mate was just a cover. The real reason was so that your mind reading Father wouldn't hear the truth about us in Nahuel's mind. He didn't trust himself to successfully hide his thoughts around Edward. Same reason why I refused to phase at the same time as Jake," she shrugged.

Then her face turned sour. "I lost months with him." I knew that if she had been feeling better she would have started growling at me, but she was barely able to talk. "Nahuel would have come back sooner, almost immediately after the Cullens went back to France, but he was trying to convince Jennifer to come back with him. He knew it would look weird without her, but I missed him and was tired of waiting. So I called him; threatened that if he didn't I was going to go find him."

I was starting to think Leah was insane but watching her now talk about Nahuel, I saw the same glint in her eye Nahuel had in my kitchen the morning he first came back. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it just wasn't desperation to not be alone, that pushed them together. I think they were actually, truly in love with each other.

I was sort of happy for both of them. And glad they found each other. Someone around here should be.

It was a week later and Jake still hadn't calmed down. The more he thought about it, the angrier he seemed to get. Currently he was having trouble being in the same room with either of them. He was _irritated_ with Leah, because she seemed to overlook all of the, um... flaws he saw with Nahuel. He thought she deserved better. She tried to explain to Jake that she loved Nahuel, even after everything. I didn't mind as much as Jake did. As long as they loved and cared for each other, wasn't that all that mattered? It's not like Nahuel would try to change Leah again.

Their relationship seemed to be destroying all the others around them.

Jake took issue with Leah for keeping her relationship and everything else from him, but as upset as he was with her, he was naturally and more justifiably pissed at Nahuel for almost killing her. All this led to Leah avoiding our entire family altogether. Even though Leah always seemed to be at Nahuel's house now she'd been actively going out of her way to avoid us and Felicity felt like she'd lost her only female friend.

Then there was David. He wasn't happy that his _former friend_, as he now referred to Nahuel, had taken a bite out of his Great-Aunt. It just piled onto all of his grievances, not wanting to live here anymore, being the top one currently. Weekly, daily some times, he continued to bring up his want to live in La Push.

But Jake and I were his parents. I knew, we both did, that we were partially being selfish. That we needed to let him go, that keeping him here was making him, and everyone around him, with his souring attitude, unhappy. We gave him more freedom, but we couldn't let him go entirely yet. There was so much about life we still wanted and needed to teach him.

And then there was me. Recently I'd been having more of a problem controlling my thirst. What started as a mild ache had grown. And it was getting worse every day. I wanted, no needed more blood. A lot of it. And not animal blood. That wouldn't have been a problem.

What was happening to me? I thought, after all of the donated bags my Grandfather had gotten me for my birthday, two months ago that I wouldn't be craving it like I'm now. But the scent of human blood, after Leah's injury, it seems to have re-awakened my cravings. Only this time it was different. I've never craved blood this bad before. I didn't understand what was going on. I needed to talk to someone about it. It couldn't still be from my pregnancies. Could it?

But who could I ask? My Grandfather thought I would be fine by now. Obviously he was wrong.

Who else could I turn to for answers?

Nahuel? I needed to go talk to him, maybe he would have a solution. His sister had given birth. He might know something about what had happened to her.

"It's because you have stopped growing," he replied simply, the next day when I stopped by his house, after Leah left for work.

I was glad he was willing to talk to me after everything that was going on between us, but I was also pissed. He knew this was going to happen to me and had said nothing? Of course he knew. It must have happened to him and his sisters as well.

"It was a long time ago," he continued, "but I do remember the need for more blood as I became fully mature. It will dissipate over time, but it will take a while. I'm afraid."

"How long?"

"There's no way to be certain, it was different for each of my sisters and me. Both the start and stop, and duration, but it took place sometime between each of our seventh and eighth years."

I was glad that this wasn't going to be permanent, but what was I going to do in the meantime? Animal blood didn't seem to be doing it for me anymore. What I wanted to do was... well, I couldn't bring myself to say it. I could barely even think it, but I just wanted to sink my teeth into my Jacob. But it's not like I would ever do that.

"What am I going to do?"

"What's the problem Renesmee? There are certainly more than enough animals around here for you. Why do you look so upset?"

"I'm not craving animal blood." Why couldn't I get my voice to come out louder than a whisper? No matter. Nahuel would still be able to hear me.

"Ah! You want human blood, then? That shouldn't be a problem. Carlisle could certainly arrange something for you, even from France. And even if he could not, I'm sure he would come back here for you if necessary to buy some more."

"No that's not it. I want blood, but not animal blood, and not donated blood. There seems to be a particular _person's_ blood I want, but I can't. I won't. He... I... I can't drink from him."

"Oh, that is a problem, then," he agreed understanding what I meant.

He didn't need to seem so happy about it, though.

* * *

**A.N. - **Had I make Nahuel and Leah's secret relationship too obvious in previous chapters?

Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think.


	19. Wolves: Lost and Found

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Nineteen**

**Wolves: Lost and Found **

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Nessie and I had a hunting trip planned for this afternoon. We left before the sun rose this morning and had been driving north for the past eight hours, to Canada to find something other than the normal game in the New Hampshire wilderness. It had been awhile since Nessie and I'd hunted together and I was really looking forward to it. She seemed a bit jittery, fidgeting in her seat the entire way in the car, for some reason. She was probably just overly excited for the change in her diet; deer was must get boring to drink week after week.

After she fed she would be fine. And it would be nice having some alone time with her. Since having the kids it seemed like we never did anything alone, just the two of us.

No one else had come. Dave and Felicity preferred deer, so they didn't want to drive all the way to Canada with us since we would be tracking black bears, cougars, and other carnivores.

Nessie had convinced me to try and patch things up with Leah. She was right. No matter what she had done, chosen to love, she was a member of my Pack, and my responsibility. Even if that meant I was now stuck with Nahuel now too. We were talking again… Leah and I. Nahuel's and my relationship would take more time. It's a good thing we had eternity. I'd asked them if they wanted to come with us or if not if they could watch over David and Felicity but they were… um, busy. Now that their secret was out they'd practically locked themselves in Nahuel's bedroom.

Seth and Carol agreed to stay home with the kids.

Dave might not appreciate babysitters, but Felicity wanted to spend as much time as she could with someone other than her parents and brother.

"What's that amazing smell?" Nessie asked after we'd been running for about twenty minutes.

I sniffed the air but couldn't pinpoint what she had caught. There was a storm coming and the wind was picking up.

I had to phase back onto two feet to warn her. "Ness… the storm!" She was getting too far away, headed right into the middle of a snowstorm.

Before I knew it it started snowing… heavily.

Nessie didn't seem to care; she was half a mile away from me at this point and kept running, right out of my sight. I phased back but even with my enhanced Wolf eyes the snow was making it impossible to see more than twenty feet in front of me, and the wind was shifting all around. I couldn't pick up her scent. Damn-it! Where did she go?

I started running in the direction I thought she'd gone, but came up empty. I tried howling a couple of times, hoping she would hear me howl and come back, but I wasn't sure she even knew where I was.

After another twenty, or so minutes of frantic searching I finally caught her scent, she must have been just over that next hill. Climbing up I saw a form that I think was her. Yes, sniffing deeply, I could tell that it was definitely her scent. Thank goodness. She was safe and was feeding on some animal.

I knew I didn't really need to worry; she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Being Half-Vampire made her stronger than anything out here, except if she happened upon a Full-Vampire. And what were the chances of that happening? And even if it did, she was so smart and clever; whoever they were didn't stand a chance, just like Joham hadn't. But I still worried. She was my Imprint, and I loved her.

At first I thought she was feeding on a coyote, which were fairly common in the area, a little small but about the same shape as what was under her. But the tail was thicker and bushier, the ears longer and the head shape was all wrong. As I got closer the bile started rising in my throat as I realized exactly what kind of an animal she was feeding on. It wasn't a coyote. It was a wolf!

How could she? I was a Wolf for crying out loud! So was her son. And she knew wolves were sacred to my people. She'd heard the legends, the creation stories that said Quileute's were descended from them.

It wasn't exactly true, in a way, unless you took into account the story of how Taha Aki's spirit warrior had asked a wolf to share his body, after his own had been destroyed, which resulted in the first phasing. So I guess in a way all current shape-shifting Wolves were partially descended from that first Aki-Wolf. Because of this it was against the Tribes rules to ever hurt them.

I wanted to go to her, but I didn't... I couldn't. What was going on with her? Why had Nessie done this?

Before I knew it she was off – running after her next meal.

Please don't let it be another Wolf.

As I followed her scent from just over one hundred yards away I stopped when she did and slowly crept closer. I saw that this time she'd nabbed an elk and breathed a sigh of relief.

The chase for the second animal had taken fifteen or so minutes and had given me a chance to calm down. I was no longer seething, but was nowhere near actually calm. Nevertheless I needed to go to her. Our Imprint bond was telling me that something wasn't right and I needed to be close to her, to hold her in my arms. Maybe it was just that she'd taken off without me, that I had to go searching for her, and I just needed the physical contact to know she was truly safe.

That was what our bond and my body was telling me. My mind on the other hand still felt betrayed. This was a strange feeling, something I'd never experienced before. I didn't like the different parts of myself warring with each other.

Eventually I gave in to the pull of the Imprint and made my way down to Nessie. I hoped that somehow, once I held her, the two warring parts of me would reunite and all would be well again.

"Nessie?" I grunted as I approached her after phasing back. After a few more gulps of blood, still ignoring me, she finished off the elk, and then finally looked up, and stared at me, with a crazed look in her eyes.

Oh! Was there something wrong with her? She had a frenzied animalistic look in her eyes that she sometimes got when she hunted. I'd seen other members of the Cullen family get it too, but it normally disappeared after they had fed.

"Nessie honey," I said softly this time, carefully, trying to calm her down and take her out of whatever trance, or whatever, she was in.

"Nessie, sweetheart, it's me, Jake," I tried again, as I slowly approached, almost within reach to touch her. But she got up into a defensive crouch looking like she was going to pounce on me.

Did she just growl at me? Crap!

I crept forward another step, never taking my eyes off of hers. She hadn't moved. I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad sign. She didn't relax but hadn't attacked either.

Cautiously I extended my arm and rested my hand on hers.

"Jake?" she questioned, starting to come out of it, when our skin touched. She then looked down at our hands and then back up at me and her eyes grew wide. She gasped. "Jake... I... um... Jacob, oh... oh my goodness." She started talking faster, yet still stuttering over her words. "Did you…?" she finally asked without actually saying what she did. I nodded. "I'm so sorry. I… I thought that... I don't know. I just couldn't help myself."

"Nessie how could you?" I instinctively snapped at her, my anger returning, now that I knew she was okay. Killing a wolf was like killing in a member of my family. She knew what they meant to me, to the Quileute people.

"I said I was sorry Jake, I didn't mean to growl. I was just so caught up hunting; I didn't realize it was you."

What? That's what she thinks I'm mad at? She must not know I saw.

I needed time to think. I didn't want to feel like this about Nessie, no matter what she did. It's not like she did it intentionally, she wouldn't harm a wolf to try to make me mad at her. Would she? No. She wouldn't do that. I don't know why she killed the wolf, but I didn't want to confront her about it right now. I was too upset, too emotional, I didn't want to be angry at her, I love her. I needed time… time to think and process everything.

"Sure, sure. I think we should go back unless... are you still thirsty?" I could barely get the words out. I really didn't want her feeding from any more wolves but I also didn't want her to go hungry. I never thought I would be mad at her, for anything. But this! For some reason I just... I don't know. I was pissed. I could barely even look at her right now.

Our Imprint bond kept telling me to just hold her that taking her into my arms would solve things. But my mind knew it wouldn't, it wouldn't make up for what she'd done. It's as if she'd personally attacked me.

"No, I'm fine. The elk was very filling." She replied patting her stomach, not even bothering to mention the wolf she also drained.

"Then let's go. The kids are probably missing us." Could she tell? Could she hear the anger I was trying to hide in my voice? She didn't react so I guess not.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"Hey, Jake, I need to go hunt," I called from the other side of the house. I didn't want to get too close to him, I'd be too tempted.

I was still craving his blood, worse than ever. Of course I refused to give in, and had been hunting, gorging myself actually, so I wouldn't d anything... I didn't want to lose control and accidentally hurt my soulmate. I loved him too much.

While I no longer found the smell of animal blood appealing I still forced myself to down three to four animals every week – twice my normal amount. I didn't want there to be any chance I would slip.

Jake came over to me. He didn't look excited to come. **"**Oh... err, did you want me to -"

"No that's alright, I'm headed out with Nahuel. I'll see you in a few hours," I said trying not to let the relief be too apparent in my voice, while rushing out the door. Having Jacob come with me would completely defeat the purpose of my going hunting. I would probably mistake his all too savory scent for what I was currently after, the next best thing I could find – wolves. I hated killing them, they're so close to my Jacob, but that's exactly why I needed to. I just hoped he never found out, because I knew he would never understand and would never forgive me.

Besides I didn't think he really wanted to come, anyway. Something had been bothering him – probably Leah and Nahuel's relationship. Jake didn't really like him, so for him to see Leah with him, and be happy about it, must have been more than he could take.

But, right now, I needed someone to hunt with and Nahuel didn't care if I drank from the wolves; hell, up until a few years ago he wouldn't have cared if I fed from humans.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

"Um, Ness?" I slowly approached my Imprint. I really didn't know how to talk to her anymore. Not after the incident in the woods, three weeks ago, when she fed on a wolf. Things have been... oh, well _awkward_ would be an understatement, between us lately. We lived in the same house, slept in the same bed, had children together and yet I felt like I didn't even know her anymore. "It's time for the Skype call with Embry," I reminded her. He'd requested the two of us be on it together. Apparently he had some big news to tell us.

"Oh," was all Nessie replied, rather sheepishly, before silently following me to my laptop that I'd set up in the living room. She seemed to be just as uneasy around me, as I felt uncomfortable around her lately.

I never let on that I saw her drink that wolf, but she must have known or realized how much I'd been avoiding her lately. I just couldn't be in the same room with her, not without getting uncomfortable, or antsy, or dare even say, even... angry. I never thought I could get angry at her, she was my Imprint, I'd never gotten made at her before, not even when I'd thought she'd done something that would have made a normal un-Imprinted person upset. But this incident, _this_ I'd seen with my own eyes. I knew for a _fact_ that it was true and I just couldn't get over it.

"Hey guys," Embry waved to Nessie and I as we stood rather uncomfortably next to each other, in front of the laptop, for this Skype call. Embry had moved back to La Push last year, but since he was still in my Pack I still insisted on continuing these monthly calls.

"What's up. Everything okay?" I questioned. I hoped everything was finally starting to go well for him. But even though he was smiling something about his voice was off.

Embry and Colleen had gotten an apartment together on the Res when they returned from Texas, not that they were together, it was a two bedroom. It was just more economical. As far as I knew they finally settled into a nice platonic friendship. Or at least I thought they had. Was he calling to tell me about some dire news? Did she kick him out? Did she fall in love with someone else... again?

"I wanted both of you on this call because I have some big news," he said before pausing for several seconds. It seemed like he was agonizing over how to phrase whatever it was he was going to say next, but then he just blurted it out, "Colleen's pregnant!"

"Oh," I said in shock. I guess she had met somebody else. I wonder how Embry's going to handle it this time. Was he going to be okay with it? What if she gets married? Moves in with the guy? But this happened so fast, I didn't even realize she'd been dating anybody. "Are you going to be okay Embry?"

He probably would be. Imprinting was funny like that. It took away most Wolves problems with any romantic entanglements. I guess it did for everybody, including me, most of the time anyway.

Years ago, when Nessie had been with Nahuel, I couldn't figure out why I was romantically attracted to her. I shouldn't have been; I should have only seen her as my best friend, or little sister, or something. I couldn't understand why I was. Of course, what I hadn't known at the time was that she was in love with me, and was just trying to figure out how to get rid of Nahuel. If she hadn't had those feelings for me, then I wouldn't have been tormented so by their relationship.

The same was true, in a way for Embry. He'd spent two years as a Wolf, while Colleen tried to win back Henry and was perfectly happy doing so because that was the only thing she needed from him. Now that she was going to have another man's child, Embry would probably fall into a best-friend-to-her/nanny-to-her-baby roll and be perfectly happy doing so.

"I'm great, Jake," he smiled. Yup, Imprinting was weird like that. "I'm so excited! I'm going to be a Father."

What? _He_ was going to be a Father? It was _his_ child? I was having a hard time believing it.

Oh no! Was this the result of another one night stand like she had with him, the night before her defunct wedding was supposed to have taken place?

"Okay, back up Embry. I'm gonna need a little bit more information. How did this happen?" I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings. The last thing I wanted was to say the wrong thing and upset him. I needed him to be clear with exactly what their relationship was.

"Yeah, I guess this kind of came out of the blue for you, but it's all good. Colleen and I have been _together,_ together for almost a year now. I didn't want to say anything before. I didn't want to jinx it, but she LOVES me Jake. She _finally_ loves me."

"Oh. That's great Embry," I said while sighing in relief.

"I'll send you guys an invitation to the wedding as soon as we pick a date. She wants to get married before the baby comes, so it'll probably be this March or April," he added.

Huh, everyone in my Pack was in a serious relationship – Seth had shacked up with his Imprint, Embry was getting married and having a kid, and Leah was... whatever she was doing with Nahuel, yet I was always the last person to know about it. Wasn't I supposed to be their Alpha? Shouldn't they tell me these things earlier?

"Wow, congratulations Embry, and tell Colleen congratulations from all of us here, too. We're really happy for you both of you." Nessie smiled to him. It was the first smile I'd seen on her face in weeks.

"All right, I'm gonna go hunt," Nessie said to me as soon as I turned off the monitor.

"Oh, um... would you like some company? Did you need me to go with you?" I asked. Despite the situation I still wanted… needed her to be safe, protected, loved. This conflict we were having was killing me, tearing me up inside. I loved her; I just hated what she'd done.

"No, I actually already made plans to go with Nahuel"

Sheesh! Why was she always hunting with _him _lately? For the past few weeks the two of them had been doing all of their hunting together. I wasn't sure why, though. Something was off, I just didn't know what it was.

Were they talking about his relationship with Leah? I hoped so, because the only other thing I could think of, that Nessie was hunting more wolves, was too disturbing to think about. And yet I did. I didn't try to, in fact I tried to think of anything else, but my subconscious kept bringing it to my attention.

Nahuel wouldn't care what or who she ate; that's probably why she was hunting with him. I didn't want to think that she would do something like that - so awful, so horrific. No, that couldn't be it.

I had to be wrong.

But what if it was worse?

What if there others? Drinking one wolf was bad, but continuously killing more wolves, week after week, that was inexcusable.

But then again, I could be wrong. It could have been something else entirely.

This is ridiculous! I needed to talk to my Imprint, and find out exactly what was going on. My imagination was running wild and was probably blowing everything out of proportion.

I needed answers.

Before she'd reached the door I called out to her. "I know you're feeding from wolves." There. I said it. Even if I was wrong, even if it was just the one wolf, we still needed to talk, and clear the air.

I sat and waited for her to turn around, march back into the room and start... I don't know... yelling at me. Tell me I was wrong. That it was just the one time and it was an accident. That she was sorry. That she couldn't help it, but still try to apologize or something. Even if she denied it and became angry so we started fighting, yelling at each other, at least we would have been talking.

But that's not what happened.

She just left, as if she hadn't even heard me. But she did. And the slamming of the door on her way out told me I my worst fear was right.

Wordlessly she ran out, to meet Nahuel, and kill more of my brother and sister wolves.

What was I going to do now?

* * *

A.N. Ohhh... cliffhanger. What do you think?

Please review.

How is everybody's quarantine going?


	20. Coming Clean

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty**

**Coming Clean**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

Oh crap!

He knew.

Jacob knew I was feeding from Wolves!

How long had he known?

Last week I woke up in the middle night to find his side of the bed empty. When I went searching I found him asleep on the floor in the garage. He'd been working on the car he got me for my birthday earlier that day. He claimed he fell asleep down there while he was working, but I found him asleep on the couch the next night, the TV still on. That time he said he'd fallen asleep watching some old movie. Perfectly plausible, but when it happened for the third night in the row I started to wonder.

When Jake began spending more and more time away from me I'd wondered if he could feel, through our Imprint bond, how much I wanted his blood. I thought that was it. I figured that he was being safe. That _that_ was why he'd barely touched, or came near me, lately.

But I was wrong.

He must hate me.

I'd been so worried I might attack him while he slept. At least this way, no matter how mad he was at me, he was safe. I'd rather lose his love, than his life.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have stayed and talked things out with Jacob. I didn't want Jake to see me as the monster that I knew I was. I thought that if I never acknowledged what I'd done, then he wouldn't really, truly, know.

But he did.

And so I ran.

So now I was sitting on a rock somewhere in the middle of the New Hampshire wilderness, crying into Nahuel's shoulder, ruining his shirt with my tear soaked wales. "He knows," I croaked. "What am I going to do?"

Nahuel wrapped me in his arms, unsuccessfully trying to comfort me. "I'm afraid there is nothing you can do. Unless you wanted to -"

"Don't be ridiculous. I could never do that. But you should have seen me back there, just him being in the same room with me. Jake's smell was just too overwhelming, I couldn't even stand it, I had to get out of there as fast as I could. I should have stayed, explained why I'm out here with you, doing this -"

I snapped out of my commiserations at the same time Nahuel's body stiffened – both a reaction to the same sound. I would know that howl anywhere. Leah! What was she doing here?

"You have got to be kidding me!" Leah screamed at me. "Jake stupidly asked me to watch over you, make sure you stayed safe, while hunting." Her eyes were wild as they darted back and forth between Nahuel and me. "He thought... he was actually worried about you, but I guess there was nothing for him to worry about." What was wrong with her?

"AARRRGH!" she screamed, looking over at Nahuel now. She was really losing it. "I knew it. Damn-it, damn-it, damn-it! Men are pigs, why did I ever even try and love again? I knew it was only going to hurt me in the end."

What? I was confused.

Oh, it dawned on me what she thought she saw. I guess this did look bad.

"Darling that's not what this is," Nahuel began to protest, extricating himself from around me. I probably should have stepped away from him before this. If I was thinking clearly I probably would have.

"Don't give me that crap," Leah growled back. "I saw you with my own eyes, you were all over her and she was kissing your chest."

"No, I wasn't." "She was not." We both said in unison.

"I should have known when you found Jake with that hooker," she said waving her finger at him, "that their Imprint wasn't normal. Stupid, half breed," she spat at me. "You leeches ruin everything. You know that. I hate you," she cried to Nahuel, before phasing back into a Wolf and running off to who knows where.

"Nessie, I'm sorry, but I need to go after her," Nahuel said to me while already running after Leah, in an attempt to chase after her, clear across the mountain top.

Damn-it! What else could go wrong today?

I needed to get home and explain things to Jake. I'll have to try to fix things between Nahuel and Leah too, but Jake was my main concern. But I still hadn't fed and couldn't risk being around Jacob right now. Not like this. I wanted his blood too much. I loved him, and while I kept telling myself that I would never hurt him I was too worked up, and I might... no, I _would_ attack him; my emotions were too heightened right now. I couldn't control myself and I definitely didn't want to hurt Jake.

As fast as I could I found what I was looking for and quickly fed. I probably should have hunted down another Wolf but I didn't want to be away any longer, I'd already been gone for hours. Instead I made my way home as fast as I could. My thirst was better under control now. Not totally, I don't think it will ever be until...

"There you are." Jake was sitting on our front steps, waiting for me. He didn't look happy. I didn't expect him to, but he looked worse than I expected. He was just in his shorts, so even without hearing Leah's howl alerting him that it was urgent he do so, I knew he had phased. Which meant at the very least he had seen my crying in Nahuel's arms. "So are you ready to talk? Are you going to tell me what's going on? Because right now I think we have some major problems."

"Jake you don't believe Leah, do you? You don't think that I would -"

"No, but I don't know what the truth is either. I know what she saw and I know what she heard -"

"What she heard?" I started thinking back to exactly what Nahuel and I'd said to each other, it wasn't that bad was it? Yeah she'd flipped out, but she was always upset about something, and she never liked me. But how was it that she could have misinterpreted anything that we'd said, even if she confused what she saw?

I'd said _He knows_, with my head on Nahuel's shoulder, then _What am I going to do?_

Nahuel had replied _I'm afraid there is nothing you can do. Unless you wanted to... _while putting his arms around me.

_Don't be ridiculous. I could never do that. But you should have seen me back there, just him being in the same room with me. Jake's smell was just too overwhelming, I couldn't even stand it, I had to get out of there as fast as I could. I should have stayed, explained why I'm out here with you, doing this... _

Hmmm, I guess she could have interpreted Nahuel innocently trying to comfort me as something scandalous. And my comments about Jake didn't sound good, if one didn't know what I was talking about.

I hadn't thought, for a second, that Jake was with that hooker when Nahuel had told me what he saw. Why would he now believe Leah? "Jake, I swear, there's nothing going on between me and Nahuel."

"I know," he shook his head. "I already told you that I didn't believe Leah. She has some trust issues with men. It tends to cloud her judgment," he huffed. "Now quit stalling and tell me what's really going on," he grunted. "Just tell me the truth. Look me in the eyes and admit that you're feeding on wolves."

Damn, he just came right out and said it. I briefly thought about lying and admitting to having an affair with Nahuel instead of feeding from wolves. Maybe that would hurt Jake less.

No! I needed to confess, no matter how much it hurt.

"I… I-" I tried, but couldn't answer him. I wanted to, but the words wouldn't come out. I couldn't even look at him. I just stood there, staring at an invisible dot between his feet.

"Just tell me why," he growled. Jake had never growled at me before. "Why wolves? You know they are like family to me. They're part of me. Don't you know that Nessie? When you attack one of them it's like you're attacking me."

"I know, Jake." I'd never meant for it to get this bad. The first time I fed from a wolf I hadn't even realized I'd done it, I'd gone into some sort of daze. But feeding from them only helped a little. I still wanted Jake's blood, more and more. "That's why I'm doing it. That's why I'm going after wolves, because they smell like you," I spat. But wolf blood only seemed to be a temporary bandage to my thirst issues.

"What?" His anger was replaced by utter shock. "Do you want to kill me?"

"NO! Of course not." How could he think that? "I would never want to hurt you." Well not physically at least, I guess I'd hurt him emotionally. "It's why I've been hunting the wolves. You know I love you. More than my own life."

"You're craving my blood again. " Realization dawned on his face as he spoke. "Are you -" he cut himself off, glancing down at my stomach. But that wasn't the reason. It wasn't possible now that I'd stopped aging. I was a twenty-three year old menopausal Half-Vampire.

"No, I'm not pregnant. But I do want your blood, more than anything, which is exactly why I can't have it. I want it so much more than last time. I don't know what I'm going to do.

"It's so much worse than when we were on Isle Esme. I don't want just a few sips from you. I want all of it," I said, shame leaking into every word I spoke and probably written all over my face. But I'd said it. I finally said it out loud, to him, while simultaneously admitting the whole truth to myself. "What am I going to do now? Nahuel said I'm going to be like this for awhile, as my body settles into its new frozen state.

"Nahuel knows about this?" Jake questioned me, the anger building in his voice again.

"Yes, he explained why I wanted your blood so badly. It happened for him and his sisters, too. But they just craved massive amounts of human blood; I only seem to want yours. It must be because of our Imprint bond, because I have no desire for Dave's Wolf blood." Or Felicity's.

"Then why did you go after Jack Fisher?"

"I think that must have just been from my pregnancies, or the deliveries, like my Grandfather thought. My uncontrollable need for your blood is different; it's because I've reached maturity. The close timing is just a coincidence." At least that was the best explanation I could come up with. I didn't know for certain, I don't think anyone did, but I guess that theory was just as good, or better, than any others.

"The blood that my Grandfather gave me only cured my craving for human blood, I still want yours. And it's getting worse, not better, as time goes on. Wolf blood tastes closest to yours, but it's only satiating... placating, my thirst temporarily." This was so hard. I was close to hyperventilating now. But I had to get it all out; I had to come clean, completely. "It's working less and less, Jake. I don't know what to do. It's not like I can drink from you."

"Why wouldn't you just tell me all of this," Jake asked me, the final bits of anger finally vanishing from his voice. "Talk to me if something, _anything,_ is bothering you. We could have found a way to possibly have prevented this." As he spoke he got up and began walking over to me. But every step he took toward me I took one back. I couldn't have him nearer to me. Not now. I was agitated again. I was wrong earlier, the one wolf I found wasn't enough. My emotions were too high right now and it made me want to drink from him even more. At least the wind was blowing in my favor.

"Jake, I can't. I'm sorry I can't be near you right now. I want you... I want your blood too much." That halted his advance.

"Nessie, Eddie once wanted Bella's blood just like you're describing, back when she was human, before he changed her. If he could resist, so can you."

"There is one major difference between my Father and me. He could hold his breath, forever if he needed to. He didn't have to breathe in my Mother's scent if he was in danger of losing control. I can't do that. I need to breathe. The only thing I can do is stay away from you."

Just then the wind shifted, drawing his scent in my direction. I almost gave in and leapt on him, but somehow, I didn't know where my strength to resist came from, but I ran to the closest tree and dug my nails in, down to my knuckles, anchoring myself, somewhat to the spot. _Sorry Grandma Esme_; I think she liked that one.

"Nessie, you're stronger than you think. You can control yourself. I believe in you."

"And if I can't?" I wasn't going to last much longer. I needed to get further away from him. "What am I going to do?" Wind please shift, please. "It's just so hard being around you. I can't take it." There, finally the wind shifted again. Thank goodness. Clean, Jake-scent-free air. "What if I hurt you, what if I... what if I kill you?"

"Nessie, honey, I'm not some weak little human. Don't worry about me. I love you, I would do anything for you," he cooed as he began to inch closer.

Why was he torturing me like this? Didn't he see how hard this was for me right now?

"I'm sorry, Jake. I just can't. I can't be tempted like that. I don't trust myself around you. I love you too much. I think the safest, best thing, for now is for me to -" was I really going to say it? Was I that close to losing it? Yes, yes I was. "To stay away from you. I'll stay in one of the other houses, just until my _issue_ is resolved. It's safest for everyone."

His eyes widened. "No, Renesmee! Don't do this to us. Don't leave me. I need you. I'd rather be dead than live without you."

"It won't last forever," I tried to reassure him.

"How long?"

"Not sure," I shrugged, not letting go of the tree. "According to Nahuel it was as little as a few months to a year at most, for him and his sisters, before things went back to normal."

"A year? I can't stay away from you for a year, don't ask me to. You're my Imprint Renesmee. I'll go crazy if I'm not with you every single day."

Crazy… but alive. "I know, and it gets worse. It only ended after they gorged themselves on human blood."

Despair turned to resignation on Jake's face. I thought he'd finally grasped the reality of the situation… of why I needed to stay away from him, but I was wrong.

He held out his arm. "Just take my blood sweetheart. Drink it. If it's what you want... what you need, then take it. It will help... both of us."

"But I can't, Jacob. Don't you see? I've absolutely no control right now. I wouldn't be able to stop."

"You will, sweetheart. I believe in you."

"Damn-it Jake, stop saying that!" It was hard enough just standing here.

"And if you don't... I don't know, maybe we could..." he shook his head, "we'd think of something."

"No, WE won't think of anything, Jake, because YOU will be dead."

Jake did the last thing he should have and walked toward me.

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. His scent was everywhere. I pulled my fingers out of the tree, releasing myself.

I didn't have a choice. The need... my desire... it was too strong. I had to do it... even though it meant I would never forgive myself.

* * *

**A.N.** I know, i know... another cliffhanger. But i have to give you a reason to come back and finish reading the story.

Please review - what else do you have to do while on lock down?


	21. I Need to Get Out of Here

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Two**

**I Need to Get Out of Here**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

It had been two weeks since Jake had accused me of feeding on wolves.

A fortnight since I'd confessed to him why I'd done it.

Fourteen long days since I ran.

I had to. If I didn't I would have attacked my Jacob. There was no doubt in my mind. My thirst for his blood, and only his blood, was just too great.

He didn't stay put like I hoped he would, but took off after me.

I managed to get to my Aunt and Uncle's house and slam the door on him before he could follow. I couldn't be trapped inside with him, where his scent would have no possible way to dissipate, and only grow in intensity. That would have been a death sentence for him. He must have known, finally understood, or paid attention to the warnings he felt thorough our Imprint bond, because he didn't try to force his way in.

"Nessie we need to talk about this," he yelled to me through the door. Not angry yelling, he just wanted to talk and needed to make sure I heard him.

We talked, through the door, over the next few days but it didn't change anything. I still wanted his blood, he stupidly continued to offer it, and I was unrelenting in my refusal to take it.

I never left my spot leaning on the inside of the front door and Jake never left his on the outside.

"Mmmm. Steak, baked potatoes, green beans, and strawberries," Jake said as he looked through the latest basket from our daughter. Felicity would bring food a few times a day. She never asked what was going on. I didn't think she knew what had happened; she just knew there was an issue and we needed time and space. And she knew we needed to eat. It was just her nature to silently help like this, it was her way.

"Want the berries? Or the Potatoes? You could have all of it if you want. You must be hungry Nessie. You've been in there for days." He tried to get me to eat every time Felicity dropped off a basket. And every time I refused.

"You know blood is more filling," I fibbed. Normally I only needed to hunt once a week. Jake knew that. But he didn't know that my thirst had increased and it was getting to the point that it hurt too much to even swallow. I was shaking, trying to restrain myself from tearing through the front door and sinking my teeth into my Jacob. If I thought it would help I would have chained myself to the stairs banister. But even a slight tug with my enhanced strength would bring it down.

He didn't choose to argue more, only shrugged, knowing I wouldn't come out.

I went to the living room window to take a peek at him while he ate. Food always brought a smile to his face. Not a big one, especially now, but even a small one would be nice to see. But he wasn't there. That wasn't totally unexpected. It had happened a few times since I locked myself in here. He had a Wolf's metabolism and with all the food he consumed well... bathroom breaks were a necessity.

However, when he didn't return an hour later I got concerned. After two hours I was worried. And on the verge of the third hour I was in full blown panic mode. I'd already called both of the kids, and Seth and no one had seen him.

What if something had happened to him?

"Your father hasn't come back yet," I was trying to keep the terror I felt out of my voice as I spoke to David over the phone. "Can you phase and see if you can find out where… Never mind," I quickly reversed my request, and ended the call, when I saw Jake come jogging back to the house.

"Nessie, I got your favorite for you," he yelled through the door, while holding up a thermos. "It's cougar."

He was almost right, cougar had been my favorite, but right now I don't think any blood would satisfy me, except his.

He set it down outside of the front door and backed up till he was out of view. I knew he probably wouldn't come back till I took the blood so, hesitantly, I opened the door a crack and snatched it as fast as I could, before slamming it back closed. Even that short amount of time was enough for Jake's scent to infiltrate the house. It was worse than I thought possible. I didn't think such a little whiff could affect me this much, but the urge to launch myself out the door and hunt him down was stronger than ever.

Maybe he was right and the cougar blood would help.

I took a sip and instantly spit it back out.

Oh Jake... what have you done?

But I knew exactly what he'd done. He'd mixed his own blood in with the cougars. Just a small amount. Was it intentional or had the cat hurt him while he wrestled with it? It didn't matter. This was bad. His blood was in my mouth. I wanted to drink, to swallow, to devour.

But as much as I wanted to I didn't. I couldn't.

Almost as worse, was that I hadn't spit the blood back into the container. I hadn't been thinking and just wanted to expel the foul/delicious ambrosia as fast as possible. But now it was all over the door, wall, and floor. It was seeping into the white carpet.

Running as fast as I could I grabbed a gallon of bleach from under the kitchen sink and started splattering it everywhere the blood had gone, as I held my breath. Esme was going to kill me for ruining the rug, but I had to do it.

Then I opened the door and chugged the thermos out.

"Why'd you do that?"

Jake was back outside the door. I hadn't hit him with it, but wasn't exactly aiming as I threw, and the thermos had come pretty close to him.

"Sorry… but your blood… mixed in," I struggled to tell him. Each breath I had to take renewed the taste of his blood in my body.

"Oh," he paused, as his eyes grew wide. "I…" he looked down at what I now realized was a new scar on his arm. "I'll get you a new… a different… something that hasn't been… that I haven't…"

"No!" I interrupted. I didn't think anything would quench my thirst. Nothing but… but the one thing I couldn't have.

Jake felt horrible at bungling his attempt to help ease my thirst. But something good did come out of it. It got us talking.

And eventually (a few days later) I came out.

I still wanted Jake's blood. That hadn't gone away, but now that he knew the problem he could help me deal with my cravings. Now that we were talking he understood when he needed to avoid me and I didn't feel as guilty when I needed to extricate myself from his presence. It was hard on both of us, but definitely worth it.

It was also hard telling our children. That was something I never even thought of to do, but my wonderful Jacob had. He felt they needed, not only to know about my wanting their Fathers blood, but how it would affect them, and also what might happen to them when they stop aging. Neither of us was sure if they would go through the same thing, since they were only a quarter Vampire (and David was also a Wolf). Hopefully they might never need to deal with this, themselves. But Jake was right; they at least deserved a heads up.

We didn't tell them everything, just the facts.

"David, Felicity, I'm sure you're wondering what's been going on, between your Father and me, the last few days," I started, once we were all gathered in the living room. They nodded. It looked like David wanted to say something but I kept talking. "Since I stopped aging my body seems to be…" oh how am I going to put this? "I'm going through a… pseudo-newborn phase," that made sense, right? "My thirst had increased and I am… well I'm craving your Father's blood."

Jake then started telling them that it was most likely due to our Imprint bond, but that we were working thought things and doing our best to deal with it until we could figure out a way to resolve the issue.

I wasn't really worried about Felicity. She was always so calm and understanding of everything, but I'd prepared myself for the worst from David. He would finish aging, by our calculations, in nine months. But, while he was sympathetic, and (a bit surprisingly) understanding for Jake and I, he seemed unconcerned for himself, or his sister. Our children never craved human blood and he didn't see this news changing that. I guess we would just have to wait and see.

He did, however, go ballistic when we broke the news about my new wolf diet. It took him a couple of days, but eventually he calmed down when he grew to realize, just as I and Jake had, that I needed to drink and it was either the wolves or his Father.

At least things seemed to be better between Jake and me. It was nice-ish. I was still struggling with my bloodlust (for lack of a better word) for Jake. But coming clean actually helped. Yet even though he told me he understood, I wasn't sure I could believe him. I don't think he has now, or ever will, actually forgive me. If we survive this I plan to spend the next century or two making it up to him. I wasn't exactly sure how, but I was determined to find a way.

He was trying and so was I.

And now that he knew, now that there wasn't so much unspoken tension between us, it was a little easier being around him. Each day I viewed as a minor victory that he was still alive and I hadn't given in to my thirst. I would have left to keep him safe. It would have hurt (both if us) but he refused to let me go, which I loved him for. It terrified me that I would hurt him, but I loved him. And he loved me.

And when it got to be too much Jake understood when I needed to run out of the house to feed. I knew he wasn't _happy_ that I was still drinking wolves, - okay he was pissed (he never said anything, but I still knew). What could I do though? It was them or him. He said he understood my reasoning and we'd come to a compromise, of sorts.

I tried to cut down on the wolves and went after other animals; the wolves were no longer helping as much as they once had, anyway. But when my cravings got really bad I found they were the only thing that stopped me from ripping into Jake's throat.

Tonight was just the four of us, sitting around relaxing in the music/library room. No Seth and Carol, or Leah, or Nahuel

That was another thing I felt awful about. It was my fault Leah broke up with Nahuel. She'd caught me in his arms. He was just trying to comfort me, but she completely misunderstood the situation and they were still not back together. Jake and I both tried to help… explain things, but she wouldn't listen.

Nahuel looked like crap. Vampires never did well when they were not able to be with their mates, for whatever reason, sometimes preferring death to continued existence without them.

And Leah was almost as bad. Not suicidal but moody and angry every time she came to visit the kids.

Next week's Christmas celebration looked like it wasn't going to be a very merry day.

Before I screwed it up for them, Leah had said she wanted Nahuel, and Jake decided, even though it was my fault, to take it upon himself to get them back together. As much as Jake disliked Nahuel, he felt that it was his responsibility, as Leah's Alpha, to set things right for a member of his Pack, especially since his Imprint was the one to ruin things for her.

So far all of his attempts had been unsuccessful.

Maybe I'll have more luck. It was completely my fault and I needed to fix things. I had a plan that I was going to set in motion tomorrow. With my luck, all hell will probably break loose and I'll just end up making things worse.

At least tonight was going good. David was reading, Jake was studying at the table on the left side of the room, while I was on the right, by an open window, giving Felicity a piano lesson.

Listening to my daughter play the exquisitely beautiful melody she'd composed, I could almost forget the intense burning in my throat that Jake's scent was causing.

David slammed shut his book. "Mom, Dad, can I talk with you for a minute?"

"What's it?" I asked. Felicity decided to continue to practice on her own, while we talked to our son. She loved the piano, and it was actually hard to drag her away from that thing sometimes, even to hunt.

"I want to talk to you about school next semester."

David and Felicity had audited some classes with us, at Dartmouth this past fall. Felicity only took a couple online, but David went to all of them with us. He'd attended all of our Senior level classes, taken all the tests, and handed in all of the assignments, even though it wasn't for credit. He hadn't completed his Freshman, Sophomore, or Junior year but we - me, Jake, and the rest of the family, had taught him everything we knew at home and online, just like we were doing with Felicity.

They were Quarter-Vampire, so it's not like I expected anything less. While neither of them ever forgot anything with their eidetic memories I was still glad they were putting in the time (if not effort), even if it was only to build more life experiences. It showed dedication and commitment, to grow and mature, to fit into the human world.

"Guys... um," it looked like he was struggling to tell us whatever was on his mind. After two and a quarter minutes of silence he began again. "I don't want to go back to school with you next semester. I want to live in La Push with Gramps," he blurted out.

Not this again. He was my baby. I couldn't lose him yet. He was only fifteen months old. And what was this about wanting to move in with Billy?

David loved La Push. We all knew that. Months ago Jake had promised to take him back to visit, which he kept, and they had returned, once a month, every month, for a weekend. I hated them being away from me, but knew how happy it made our son to be there. We saw with each and every visit that David grew more and more attached to the Reservation.

Jake and I knew this day was coming. I just didn't want to admit it to myself and Jake had refused to talk about it.

"But you're only one," I began to protest.

"I'm twenty-three, just like you," Dave countered.

"You're one," I said again. I thought about stamping my foot but I didn't think that would help my cause.

"If I'm one, then you're seven." Argh! He had a point. "So which one is it Mom? Are you and I our physical ages of twenty-three, or am I one, you're seven, and Dad's a pedophile?" he challenged his father, not only with his words but the look he shot Jake as well.

I was shocked our son said that, but it was Jake I was concerned about now. His face just fell. I knew he use to worry about that. It was one of Jake's biggest fears.

"David -" Jake choked, unable to say anything else.

"Dad, I... it's only... you know that's not what I meant." The remorse was evident on David's face. "I'm sorry I upset you. No one thinks that. But it's my whole point. I'm an adult just as much as Mom is."

"I know you're an adult, Dave. That's not why I'm objecting to this. It's the fact that you're our son, we've only had you with us for one year and you want to leave us." I quietly responded after a minute. Jake still seemed catatonic, almost being as still as a Vampire in times of stress. I was getting worried. Normally when Jake was angry he would shake, a normal precursor to phasing… the exact opposite of what he was doing now. It meant he wasn't angry, but I had no idea what he was feeling, but his behavior was worrying me. I had never seen him like this.

"I've already talked to Gramps, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel. They're all on board," Dave continued, after neither I nor Jake said anything for a few minutes.

"What?" "What's that supposed to mean?" Jake and I both questioned in disbelief. At least Jake was talking again.

"Well, Gramps' house only has three bedrooms; one room's his, one was for Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel, and one was for Cousin Jeremy. But now, with the birth of the twins, the house is too small for them. Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel needed a larger place. They just bought a house down the road."

"Gramps thinks my coming to live with him is a wonderful idea. He's getting older and he could use the help now that my Aunt and Uncle won't be living there anymore. The timing is perfect, really," David continued.

I knew Jake's sister and Paul couldn't stay with Billy forever. His house just wasn't big enough to fit their growing family.

"And what about the Pack, David? Have you even thought about that? There can NOT be two La Push Packs," Jacob argued. Now he was starting to shake.

I wanted to use my give to tell him that getting into a fight with our son would not help anything, but that would mean getting closer to him, which was dangerous. Instead I settled on a warning look from across the room. Jake got the message; after taking a deep breath, his face relaxed and I heard his heart rate slow.

And what he told David wasn't exactly true. For a few years there had been two Packs in La Push. When Jake split from Sam's Pack to protect my mother, when she was pregnant with me, Seth and Leah followed him. After I was born, and Jake and Sam reconciled, Embry and Quil followed. They only went back to having one Pack after Embry followed his imprint to Texas, Seth and Leah came out to New Hampshire with Jake and I, and Quil rejoined Sam's/Jared's Pack.

And now Embry was back in La Push. And technically in Jake's Pack.

"It won't be a problem. I want to join Jared's Pack when I move there. I've already talked to him and he's offered to let me be his second, until he stops phasing, in two years. And then I would become Alpha. That's the plan, at least for right now."

Jake slugged himself over to the sofa, next to Dave, and slumped down, looking a bit defeated. His son leaving his Pack was a huge blow to Jake. Probably bigger than him wanting to move. I knew Dave's words hurt, but Jake really needed to pull himself together. Where was my Alpha Wolf?

"What about Collin?" Jake asked, seemingly recovering enough to try to come up with other reasons to dissuade our son. "He's already Jared's second. You can't just take his place."

"Collin is not going to be phasing forever. He Imprinted remember. He's going to be getting married soon and he doesn't want to be a Wolf that much longer. He's already twenty and wants to start aging again in a few years and grow old with his fiancée."

Damn-it! It looked like he'd everything thought out. Almost.

"What are you planning to do about school?" I asked. "And what about money? What are you going to do for work? How are you supposed to live out there? You know food, clothes, books, school, your comics and video games that you love so much – they all cost money." I knew it was really just an empty threat. Of course I would give him whatever he needed but he couldn't just live off of other people his entire life.

"I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing right now. I applied, and have been accepted to a school in California. I know it's a little bit away, but I've set it up so that most of my classes are going to be online; just like yours are right now. I'll only have to go to the school once a week and I can handle that. It's not that bad of a drive.

What? How did he do all of that without any of us finding out? How had Jake not heard anything in his thoughts when they were both phased?

"And as for work, I plan to get a part time job somewhere out there. It wouldn't have to be much. And once I get a degree I'm sure I can find something better in time. Really guys you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"But we're your family. Won't you miss us?" Felicity sadly whimpered from the corner. Of course she'd heard every word. Those two were so close. I wonder if they had talked about this previously.

"Of course I'll miss you, Fliss," he replied, using his nickname for his sister. "Just as much as you'll miss me. But we have family in La Push too. Why don't you come with me?"

NO! I can't lose both of my children. Not yet, not on the same day.

"I don't want to leave." Thank goodness. "Why don't you want to stay with us, don't you love us?" My heart went out to her as the tears started falling down her face.

"Of course I do," Dave replied. "But I don't feel comfortable here. This place is not my home."

"Of course it is. You live here. You've always lived here," she argued back.

"No. This is just a house," Dave said waving his arm around. "La Push is my home. Yours too," he said now looking at both Jake and my daughter.

"Yeah and what about your Mother?" Jake questioned him. "You know it's too dangerous."

"Why? So what if all the potential teens on the Res turn into Wolves because of her? Why is that such a bad thing? Is there something wrong with being a Wolf?" he asked. He was really asking Jake if there was something wrong with him.

"Of course not. But not everyone sees it that way. And fighting Vampires, protecting the Tribe, it's inherently dangerous. It's not something that should be forced on someone. You can't make life altering decisions for other people."

"Like you're trying to make for me?" David shouted back at his Father. "This is my life. This is what I want. That's where I want to live, I want to be a Wolf, I want to protect the Tribe. They are my people. I feel this connection to them and the land there. Why don't you, Dad?"

I knew why Jake didn't anymore. He wasn't connected to any set place on earth anymore, not since the day I was born. The day he Imprinted on me. He always told me Imprinting was like gravity; that it's not the earth holding him, it was me. Jake had lost his connection to the Reservation, his family, his Tribe… all because of me.

Jake just looked at me, confirming my assumption. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Dave had seen into Jake's mind, he knew this was how he felt, too.

_Maybe we should let him go. _I finally risked going over to Jake, to say with my gift. It was hard to be so close to him, but I just needed to stay in control a little while, then I would rush back to the other side of the room. Maybe even stick my head out the window and take a few breaths of fresh air.

I wanted us to be in agreement before we said anything definitive, out loud. And I didn't want to let Dave go, but maybe my son was right. He was all grown up, as much as I hated to admit it. Was it fair to keep him here, just so I would feel better, if it made him miserable?

Normally Jake and I would huddle together, somewhere private and discuss this but we couldn't exactly do that right now. This was important so still using my gift I showed him all the reasons why I thought we needed to let David go. I still thought he was too young. He wasn't even two but I knew better than anybody else what it was like to grow up so fast and really didn't want him to run away again.

"Nessie?" was all Jake said in reply, seemingly in disbelief.

"Jake, you left home to come live with my family when you were was just seventeen." I replied, as I moved to a safer distance away from him. "As much as I hate to admit it, David is a man now." At least he appeared to be. Mentally he, like I, had been an adult from the time we outwardly resembled six year olds. "We need to let him do this."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed, dropping his eyes to the floor then slowly raised them so he was gazing over to me.

* * *

"Did you know Dave was planning this?" I questioned Jake later that night, after the kids went to bed, but before I left to go to the other house.

My control was iffy at best while I was awake. As much as Jake protested to the contrary, I didn't trust myself not to attack him while I slept. That was if I was even able to fall asleep, next to his all too tempting scent.

Even though he'd looked shocked at David's announcement I didn't see how he could not have. They phased daily together.

He shook his head. "Dave seems to of learned a few things from Leah, but honestly I wasn't looking. I've been trying to give him some space and not pry. I hated it when Edward was always in my head, looking for anything I did wrong."

"He didn't do that."

"Sure, sure, but it definitely felt that way," Jake shrugged. "When Dave asked me to not invade his privacy, I tried to honor his request. I thought he was embarrassed about a crush he had on girl he met at school, or something. This is my fault. I should have been paying more attention," he huffed, collapsing onto the couch and throwing his head into his hands.

"Don't be ridiculous, this still would have happened; we would have just found out about it sooner," I said to him before having to sulk back to my Aunts and Uncles old house alone. As I walked there reality crashed down on me again, as it did every night. I prepared to spend another long, lonely night, in an empty bed, away from my soulmate.

This wasn't Jake's fault, but he was suffering, just as much, probably even more, than me, so each morning, after saturating the sheets with my scent, I ripped them off to give to Jake. This way he'd be able to smell me as he slept the next night. He said it helped. It was better than nothing, yet not nearly enough.

Staying away was so hard. I was his Imprint and we seemed to be magnetically drawn together. But I didn't dare get too close to him though; for fear that I would lung for his throat.

We ended up spontaneously engaging in this weird mirror play, where we would stand on opposite sides of whatever room we happen to be in and just follow each other around, sort of close, but not exactly. It was horrible. We barely touched each other in weeks. And it was _frustrating_ on more than one level.

I don't know how Jake was putting up with it because I was crawling out of my skin with all of the tension. But I couldn't risk it.

Just thinking about what happened between Nahuel and Leah sent shivers down my spine. If I accidentally bit Jacob, like Nahuel did with Leah, there would be no way I'd be able to stop myself. I'm not sure how the hell Nahuel hadn't drained her. Of course he wasn't suffering from whatever pseudo-newborn, hybrid, maturity, bloodlust that I was.

Today was hard. Harder than yesterday, but not as bad as tomorrow will be. Each day, everything got a little harder. My thirst for Jake got a little bit more intense. The space I had to keep between us grew a little larger. And it wasn't just my want and need for his blood.

I wanted him – all of him.

My need, my want, to reach out and touch him, and have him touch me... to comfort me… to just... do _things_ to me, to each other, was growing, rapidly! Every. Single. Day!

I don't know how much longer either one of us was going to be able to take this. I was hoping that, at some point the cravings would go away, like Nahuel had said they would. But according to him they only went away after many months, to a year, and only after drinking… no, GORGING himself on blood.

Nahuel equated it to being a newborn… almost. I wished that meant that eventually it would just go away on its own, but I knew it wouldn't. I knew that it wouldn't go away until I'd drunk every last drop from my Jacob. And things would be stuck like this between us until I did.

Nahuel, the only one here who had been through this, wasn't able to offer me any help or solutions.

What was I going to do?

* * *

**A.N. ** Thanks for sticking with this story.

The Cullens return in the next chapter. Do you think they will be able to help our long suffering couple? And what about David? He definitely has a mind of his own. Hopefully he starts using it.

Please review.


	22. Missing Imprint

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-two**

**Missing Imprint**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

I hoped this was just going to be temporary. Nessie and I had tried to resign ourselves to the reality that Dave needed to move away, but it was still hard. How long did he really plan to stay in La Push? Away from his family? Could he really leave his sister? They were so close. He wouldn't really abandon her like this, would he? I imagined he'd stay there for a while, a few months at most, then get home sick, miss his family, and come back to New Hampshire. Not that Billy wasn't his family. He would always be Dave's Grandfather, but as much as we loved him, and understood his need to do this, we were still his parents, and wanted our son home with us, at least for a little while longer.

I planned to stay in La Push for a little while, a week maybe, just to make sure Dave got settled in. I didn't like being away from Nessie for so long, but she was staying home with Felicity, who refused to come. One of us had to.

Felicity was beyond upset that her brother was leaving. She flat out refused to talk to David and wouldn't even acknowledge her brother last week, while he packed up his room.

When everything was boxed up we'd shipped it all to Billy's house. Paul and Rachel had already moved most of their stuff out, and assured us that they would have almost all of the rest in their new place, save a few items – a couple changes of clothes, the beds, and some of the kids toys, by the time David arrived, not wanting to leave my Father completely alone until then.

Billy's health has been declining more and more over the last few years. It was a combination of his age and the diabetes. He needed someone with him most of the time now. He wasn't bedridden yet, but he needed help with the little things he use to be able to do on his own - tie his shoes, do the laundry, make dinner… things like that. Last year he had to have surgery to remove two of his toes, and a couple of months ago Paul and Rachel had mentioned that he was losing the use of his left hand. He was a righty and could still handle the TV remote so his spirits were up; at least that was what Paul assured me.

If Dave didn't end up staying, and moved back home, I would have to find someone to care for Billy. As least I was in a position to be able to afford that. I'd asked Paul and Rachel if they wanted me to hire a part time nurse to help out but they had refused. I think I might just go ahead and hire someone anyway; at least to stop in every now and then, while Dave's in school.

Sue and Charlie, Sam and Emily, and the whole Pack and their Imprints already stop by, all the time, to check on him. Rachel told me that they tried to make it look like they were just visiting, not wanting to make Billy feel bad, or dependent, or anything, but it was nice to know that he was being looked after.

I felt horrible. I had left, neglected my own father, forced my son from his home, my daughter was crying all the time, and then everything going on with Nessie… She wanted to come to Washington with us, to get as much time with our son as she could but as much as it killed me I talked her out of it.

Nessie really shouldn't be around un-phased teens if it could be avoided. We weren't sure exactly how much exposure to her would set off the change.

At least this way she would be home to meet with Mrs. Ripley, the new intermediary I'd finally found to replace Jack Fisher. She hadn't worked in almost a decade, but used to be a real estate agent, before having kids and should have a problem doing the job. Her time wasn't as open as Jack's had been, but she knew exactly what we needed, knew how to talk to Seth, and was perfectly discrete. We just needed to schedule our meetings around her schedule. Well, technically her kids schedule. Most meetings had to be held between when she dropped them of at school, and shuttled them to their after school activities.

I had set up a meeting with her, over a week ago. It was for the day after tomorrow, at 12:30. Since her kids were home for the winter break, it was the only time she had available for the next few days, and someone needed to stay and meet her. We couldn't reschedule. There were a lot of things we needed to go over with her, most importantly letting Seth know about the next round of inspections on the house he was redoing for us.

During the eight hour flight back to Washington, I should have probably used the time to talk to Dave about what he was going to do once he was out there. He thought he had it all figured out, but had he really? How was he going to get to school? What was he going to do for a job? How was he going to earn enough money to live on? Would he really like living with and looking after his Grandfather? I thought Billy was pretty easy to get along with, but the two of them didn't really know each other that well. There were a million things we probably should have been talking about, but instead, my mind kept wandering back to Nessie. All I could think about was her. Her bloodlust for me was getting more and more insatiable and there seemed to be nothing I could do to help.

When the plane landed we gathered our bags, got into the rental car, and began the two hour drive from the SeaTac Airport to La Push, but I still hadn't thought of what to say to my son.

"DAD! What is it?" Dave screamed at me when we were about an hour away from La Push.

"Huh?" I absently murmured back to him. I wasn't sure exactly what he was upset about, but when I turned my head to look at him I saw how pissed he looked, but I didn't have a clue why. I thought, if anything, he would have been happy now.

"It's been nine hours. You haven't said a word to me the entire trip. What's wrong? You're so angry at me for leaving you're giving me the silent treatment, like Felicity? Are you never going to talk to me again, either? Is that it? I thought you had come to terms with me moving home to La Push with Grandpa Billy. I thought you were fine with this but if you're never going to speak to me again -"

"No, Dave," I cut him off. "That wasn't what I was doing. I... I'm sorry, I was actually thinking about your Mother."

"Oh." Understanding replaced the anger that covered his face. "Things haven't been going that great between the two of you lately, have they?"

"We're just figuring out how to deal with your Mother reaching maturity, but it's nothing for you to worry about. Really, don't fret, it'll be fine," I lied. In reality I wasn't sure how we're going to fix things but really it was all I could think about lately. "I shouldn't have been ignoring you, you're right. This is our time together, our last time... for a little while now."

"Hey Dad, if you want to talk about things, go right ahead, I'm here to listen," he replied.

Damn. I've tried to keep the actual _enormity_ of Nessie's bloodlust for me away from our children. I didn't want them worrying about us. We told them the basics but hadn't really gone into too many specifics. Clearly, for Dave to be worried he must have found something out. Maybe I'd let something slip when we were both phased. Then again he and his sister probably noticed that Nessie and I weren't sleeping in the same bedroom anymore.

"I didn't think that it was possible for Imprints to fight, like you guys are," Dave went on. "I thought it was a lifelong bond, or something. I didn't think you would… could even break up. But Mom feeding from wolves was really bad. I understand how that's something you couldn't forgive her for."

"That's not what's happening here. Your Mother and I aren't breaking up." Then probably against my better judgment I broke down and told him the entire truth. I wasn't sure how he was going to take it, we hadn't mentioned how bad it was to either of our children, but I guess he deserved to know how bad his Mother's bloodlust for me had gotten, especially if he would have to go through the same thing Nessie was. He might not.

Nessie thought she was only this attracted to my blood because of our Imprint bond. Dave didn't have an Imprint. He would finish growing in a matter of months, Imprint free, and without a soulmate he wouldn't have to worry about this happening to him. And he wasn't attracted to human blood anyway. At most he might need to gorge himself on half the deer in the state and that would be the end of it, if this was like Nahuel said, the end of the maturation process for Half-Vampires.

We had to end our conversation when we pulled up to my dad's house.

"Jacky, there you are," Rachel called happily as she ran out of the house. Paul soon followed, carrying a twin in each arm.

"Hi Rach," I said as I picked my sister up and spun her around a couple of times, while Paul and Dave awkwardly shook hands as Paul tried to balance the kids in his arms. One was sleeping, which didn't seem to be giving him a problem, but the other was squirming all over the place.

"Great to see you guys again. Lunch is on the table, come on in," she said as she started leading us inside. "After you eat we can start moving Dave in and us out."

"Where's Billy and little Jeremy?"

"Nap time," Paul quietly said, looking a little sad. Was my dad's condition even worse than it had been we Dave and I visited last month?

I didn't want to wake him if he was asleep in his room so I'd have to wait to talk to him.

"Rachel this was delicious," I told her once we had finished eating. I don't know how she did it… taking care of two babies, a toddler, Paul, and cooking for all of us. She was amazing.

"You're welcome," Paul spoke up. That stupid grin of his was plastered on his face.

Huh? He cooked?

"Paul's turned into a real Mr. Mom over the years," Rachel informed me.

"Pffh!" I snorted. "Sorry," I then halfheartedly apologized-half laughed, while wiping the milk from my shirt and the table, that had shot out of my nose when I pictured Paul in a frilly apron.

"Hey, I'm a great cook," he snarled. "And what are you even talking about? You use to cook for Billy."

"Sorry… mom," I smirked.

The dishes rattled, one falling and breaking on the floor when Paul slammed his fist on the table. "You know I haven't phased in a few years but if you wanna go outside I think I can still remember how. Then we can settle this like we use to," he taunted me as he shot to his feet.

"Aren't you afraid you might break a nail?"

"BOYS!" Rachel shouted angrily giving both of us a look. "Calm down or I will put the two of you in time out." Paul immediately sat down and didn't take his eyes off of his hands, which were now folded in his lap.

"Pffh!" Dave snorted this time.

One of the babies, who was taking a nap, started crying. They must have woken the other one up, because I heard a second wail, a moment later.

"I'll get them," Paul said, probably thankful to not have to be in the same room as Rachel Having your imprint mad at you was one of the worst feelings in the world.

"I don't know what you think is funny," she now said to my son. "You're going to have to do all of the cooking for Billy from now on."

Suddenly Dave didn't think things were funny anymore. I guess this wasn't one of the things he 'had all worked out'.

"He'd got diabetes. You can't just order pizza for dinner every night. Billy's on a strict diet."

"What? But…I don't… How…" he stammered.

Rachel just rolled her eyes. "I'll write down a few recipes for you that he likes. I assume you can cook a little, right?"

"He'll be fine," I sorta lied. Dave and I were going to have to have some marathon cooking lessons before I left next week.

When I was younger I took over the cooking for Billy and me soon after Rachel and Rebecca left. I wasn't very good, but it was edible. When I moved in with the Cullens I'd throw together the occasional meal, but even though they didn't eat food, they were all somehow still amazing chefs. And since Esme and Bella insisted on making me these gigantic, five star meals, easier than I could over-cook pasta, I didn't object. Esme would give me a few lessons, every now and then but I didn't really get to put it to much use until they moved to France. Nessie and I shared the cooking duties and while I still wasn't as good as even Edward was, I could hold my own in the kitchen.

After Dave and I helped Paul move the rest of his family's stuff down the street to their new house, I showed Dave a few things and we made dinner for everyone that night. It wasn't too bad, but I could see that I had my work cut out for me.

After dinner we went to work unpacking all of Dave's shipped belongings. My old bed, dressers and other items had been stored in the attic and instead of buying new things for Dave we just brought them down.

Nessie and I didn't want him to feel like he couldn't come home to New Hampshire, even to visit, so all of his furniture and bedding stayed in his room there. At some point I would have to go and buy him some new sheets and stuff for here.

The next day, after a quick lesson on cooking eggs, pancakes, and coffee, we organized some more of Dave's things, and then decided to head out for a while. Billy and Charlie had gone fishing for the day so the house was empty.

I decided to give him a more extensive tour of La Push than he'd gotten on his previous visits. Most of the time, when we came here, we'd run around as Wolves or hung out at First Beach. He loved those places, but there was more about the Res than just the beach and woods. I decided to show him around some of the main streets and stores that he would need to go to around here, including a big box retail shopping store, the food market, and the drug store. Billy needed to take daily insulin shots and Dave would have to be the one filling his prescriptions. He also required special food for his condition and Dave needed to know what to buy and what not to.

"Oh my goodness, Jacob Black, is that you?" the old woman behind the counter shouted, as soon as we walked through the door of the convenience store I used to work at during high school. It had been nine years since I'd seen Mrs. Archer. It looked like she'd lost a few pounds over the years and her hair color reversed, more grey than black now, but her smile was just as genuine and her eyes ever as kind.

Back then, when I use to work here, before I began phasing of course, I looked like a typical, skinny fifteen to sixteen year old kid, now I looked like a twenty-five year old man. Of course I was pretty much that now, and had been ever since I first phased. But she didn't know anything about werewolves or any of that. In a way it was good that she hadn't seen me all this time, I'm sure she just assumed I aged normally between now and then.

"It's good to see you again," I smiled warmly at her while going over to the counter and wrapping her in a giant hug. She was always so kind to me back then, and never even made a deal out of the fact that I pretty much just abandon her one day, never returning to work, after I first phased into a Wolf. There was no way I would have been able to continue working behind the counter of the convenience store, she owned with her now dead husband. I was too temperamental back then, phasing into a Wolf at the slightest provocation. Never mind having to patrol in all my former free time, I would've never be able to work at convenience store with customers coming in and out with their annoying issues or messing up shelves that I'd just cleaned, organized, and restocked. But she never said one harsh word to me the few times she saw me after that and I was so grateful to her.

I'm pretty sure Billy had called her and gave her some excuse back then anyway, but a personal call, from me, letting her know I was quitting with at least two week notice would have been right thing do, if I'd been able to at the time, which I was not.

"And who is this?" she asked, looking at my son.

"Oh, this is... err, my... um friend, Dave," I replied. My son looked about twenty-three years old. There was no way people would believe he was mine.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you," Dave jumped in, extending his arm and shaking her hand. At least he was showing some good manners. I guess Nessie and I did something right raising him over the past fifteen months. Sheesh, that's really not that long, I winced to myself again.

"You have a lovely store," David continued as his eyes wandered around to some shelves behind the counter before the corner magazine rack caught his eye. It looked like Dave was eyeing a few Comics. It's funny in a way; all he wanted to do was to be seen as an adult and here he was looking at Comic Books meant for children.

"Oh, those are funny little things, aren't they?" Mrs. Arthur snickered to herself, after following David's glance herself." Do you have a son that likes Comic Books?" she asked him.

"No, ma'am. I don't. Not yet anyway. I just used to read this one when I was little," he replied, looking a little embarrassed, while putting back the one he'd picked up.

"When you were little?" she questioned him, but said more to herself. "That one's only been out for about three years."

It looked like David's cover story was about to be blown, or whatever it was that we were trying to pull off here.

"Um, David is about to begin college," I said a little louder than necessary, to Mrs. Archer, quickly trying to change the subject.

"Oh, that's so wonderful! Did you just move here for school? I don't remember seeing you around these parts before."

"I come around a little every once in awhile but this is where my family's from, originally. They moved away but some of my extended family still lives here. I'm moving in with them while I go to school," he replied.

"Oh, I see. Well, would you be looking for a job then? Because I do happen to need a new cashier and stock boy. It's just part time but if you're going to be going to college then you probably won't have a lot of free time anyway."

This is going to be perfect. I wouldn't even have to help David get a job, it would make him feel like he actually got one on his own, in a way, I guess.

"You wouldn't believe how big the boys grow around here," she continued, looking David and I up and down, now. "Actually, I guess you two would. But it seems like I have to restock the shelves here all the time. Some of the boys on the Reservation seem to get the munchies two to three times a day. Not that I'm complaining. Business has been wonderful this past decade or so. And if you were working here," she added, "you get a ten percent discount, which judging by the size of you, will probably come in very handy."

We all started chuckling. If she only knew the real reason why I don't think she would be laughing, but as the saying goes – ignorance is bliss.

David ended up eagerly accepted the job and was set to start next week, giving him a bit of time to get settled in first, then it would be time for me to leave.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"What are you doing here?" I asked my family after their airport taxis pulled away. They had just showed up, out of the blue. No text. No video chat. No nothing. They hadn't called, or anything, to let me know they were coming; not that I was upset. I was overjoyed that they're back, but what was going on?

"I called them, Mom," my daughter answered. "I couldn't stand seeing you like this anymore."

"Actually," my Father interjected, "we were going to be coming anyway. Alice had a vision that we would be here so we'd already started packing when you called, Felicity; but until your phone call we didn't know why." Then his face filled with concern as he turned to me. "Renesmee, what's going on? Is there a problem? Has something happened?"

I tried to answer but I couldn't even get two words out. He probably saw everything in my mind already, anyway about how Jacob and David had left – over a month ago, and never returned. I thought I'd been holding it together for Felicity, but if she called them it meant that I had failed. Unintentionally I dropped down on the floor, crying hysterically.

This was all my fault. If I'd been a better Mother to David, if I'd taught him better, explained things to him, let him hunt Vampires around us, or... I don't know, something, then maybe, he would have stayed.

And Jake probably wouldn't have stayed away if I hadn't hunted Wolves. They _both_ would still be here if it wasn't for me. But my stupid, selfish, weak reason for doing it... I never should have. I should have been stronger. I should have fought... fought my thirst better. I thought, at the time, drinking the wolves was the best solution; so that I wouldn't kill my Jacob. I couldn't hurt him.

I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, but now I've lost him; and my son, as well. They're gone. So what was the point?

I heard my Father explain to everyone what I just thought in my mind, while my Mother gently carried me up to my bedroom. After laying me in my bed she wrapped herself around me, cuddling me, as I wept into her hair. At some point I must have cried myself to sleep because the next thing I knew it was morning. My Mother must have left at some time during the night. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but her scent was fading and I was warm. I was wrapped in blankets but I wish she was still here; I needed someone to hold me even if it was in her icy arms. I didn't mind and always found them comforting. Almost as much as Jacob's.

Jacob.

Damn!

I'd been trying to not even think his name. It just made me cry. Instead I got up and went to take a shower. Once in, I just stood there, for what seemed like forever but it was really just over an hour. The warmth reminded me of… _him_. The water heater at the house was set at a hundred fifty degrees normally, so I just stood there, letting the warmth wash over me, pretending it was my J… _him_. Nothing else ever seemed warm to me. But this - this reminder of _him_ was another mistake. It brought all my sadness, fears, concerns, back again and I crumbled down on the shower floor as the tears ran down my cheeks.

Eventually my Aunts came and got me, wrapping me in a fluffy towel and quickly dressing me in something, I don't know what, I didn't really care either.

I could tell my Father was furious. I heard him yelling when my Aunts briefly opened my door. He was right to be. He must have heard everything by now, the whole horrible truth. He knew what a monster I truly was. How horrible a person I'd become. I couldn't believe I'd done this. I'd ripped my family apart.

"No darling," he softly whispered over to me as my Aunts walked me into the kitchen where my family had gathered. "I'm not mad at you. You did nothing wrong. What you did wasn't evil or even intentional. You tried to do the best you could in a no-win situation. But we will find a solution to this. Don't worry, my darling. And don't worry about Jacob," he said while softly trying to hid a growl. "Everything will work out. I'll make sure of it."

What did he mean by that? How was he going to fix things for us?

"Renesmee, don't worry. It will all work out," my Grandmother reiterated as she placed the breakfast she'd made in front of me at the kitchen table. It looked so good; too bad I didn't have an appetite.

"Nessie, darling, sweetheart," my Mother cooed softly to me, "why didn't you call us? We would have been back sooner, we could have helped."

"How can you help? I want to feed from Jacob and I can't do that. There's nothing I can do about it. It's not like I can drink from him or turn him into a Vampire to curve my appetite for his blood like Dad did to you."

"Nessie, if there's a solution to this problem then we will find it. You just have to believe that. You and Jacob were meant to be together."

I tried to be strong and believe her but at the mention of his name I started balling again.

* * *

"Nessie, honey you really need to eat something," my Aunt Alice said to me as she waved the latest deer she caught me in front of my face. But I couldn't.

Deer blood no longer had any appeal to me. Neither did almost any other animal. The same was true of human food, but I never really cared for that, and now I couldn't even bring myself to eat the ones I mildly enjoyed - eggs and strawberries.

The only thing that I did want was Jacob's blood, and well... other wolves. But the reaction I got from Jacob – his leaving - was too destructive. I just couldn't drink them anymore.

But it didn't matter anyway. He was gone, he went home to La Push. I haven't heard anything from him, since he left. I know everybody in the family was worried about me. I heard the whispers behind my back. The plans my parents tried to make to force-feed me blood, but my Grandfather wouldn't allow it. And it's not like I was going to die. I was Immortal after all, so what would be the point?

Sure I'd lost some weight and wasn't as strong as I normally was, but I didn't care.

"What if we're wrong, Renesmee," my Mother tried reasoning with me. "What if you're only semi-immortal? You need to eat honey."

Semi-Immortal?

I didn't care, I couldn't be swayed. Maybe it was better this way. What was the point of living if I didn't have my J… my _soulmate_ in my life?

David was where he wanted to be, and Felicity had adapted and was doing well, as far as I could tell. She missed them but nothing ever seemed to get her too down. She initially wept when her brother left, but as I withdrew more and more, while waiting for her Father to return, she began hanging out more with Nahuel. They seemed to have become good friends and she was doing well, having found a substitute replacement brother/father figure in him, or something. I was too lost to really tell.

I just didn't understand it. When _he_ didn't come home when _he_ was supposed to I got worried and tried calling. But _he_ didn't answer. Neither did David. The only person I was able to reach was Billy, and he just said that they were busy. I called and texted again and again. The results were always the same. Billy assured me that he was relaying my messages, but I never heard from _him_ directly. Why couldn't _he_ just call? How busy could _he_ be moving David into Billy's house? And why would it take so long? Eventually as the weeks passed I came to realize that "busy" must have been some sort of code that _he'd_ left me. But why couldn't _he_ at least call his daughter? I knew _he_ must hate me, that was understandable; drinking from wolves was inexcusable, but _he_ left Felicity too. How could _he_ do that to _his_ own daughter? And why wouldn't David want to talk to his sister either?

I was all questions and no answers.

I couldn't understand how he could do this to me. He Imprinted on me. Didn't that mean that he had to love me? Had this been too much that I actually broke our Imprint? No that couldn't be it. I was sure he loved me still. Just as much as I loved him.

But what had happened?

Finally it dawned on me. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking, on my part, but I was so upset I convinced myself it was true. It had to be... right? Jacob must have realized how low my control actually had gotten and decided it was safest for him to stay away. And that must be why he so readily agreed to let Dave move as well. Maybe he was also concerned for our son's safety.

Maybe. It was probably just wishful thinking, but for the first time in forever my heart didn't hurt to the point where I wanted to rip it out of my chest to make the pain go away.

I wanted another's opinion but as I looked around the room I noticed that's my Father was missing. "Where's Dad?" I asked to no one in particular. Everyone's eyes kind of darted around, not settling on anything in particular or looked to the floor. There was something that they weren't telling me.

"What? What's it?" I asked again.

"Your Father's gone to La Push, honey," my Mother cautiously admitted to me.

"What? Why?" I screamed. I hadn't meant to, but my emotions got the better of me.

"He's going to bring Jacob home, of course," Aunt Alice chirped, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, he can't! It's too dangerous. Why would he do that?"

"Nessie, the only way to fix this is for him to be here, so we can work it out and find a solution. Nothing is ever going to get fixed if the two of you are separated," Rose explained. Or at least she tried to. I didn't believe her for a second.


	23. MINE!

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Three**

**MINE**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

It had recently rained, but that was normal. It always rained in Washington. The ground was soft and muddy and my paws were caked with the stuff. I'd been crouching here so long the mud had long ago dried and matted itself into my fur. But it didn't matter. I needed to hold my position. I couldn't give away my location and let him know he was being observed. The only sound other than him, and the nearby humans I was watching over, was a lone bird chirping away in a tree sixteen yards to my left. Occasionally a rabbit or squirrel would wander by, but as soon as they sensed me they all seemed to quickly scamper away. I'd made sure to cover myself in the bush, in addition to hiding my massive form it also added in keeping my scent from wafting in his direction.

I'd been careful. He hadn't detected me. He couldn't see me. He couldn't smell me. I was absolutely still so he wouldn't hear a sound.

Then… my phone, on the ground beside my front foot, started vibrating.

_No, not now._

I watched, searching for any hint he had heard it. If he did, he hadn't given any outward indication.

It kept vibrating, until finally the call finally went to voicemail.

Less than a minute later it started shaking again.

His ears were just as sensitive as mine. He was farther away but if whoever kept calling, he would eventually hear it.

I didn't really want to phase back, I needed to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Risking a glance at the caller ID I saw who was calling. He knew I was out here as a Wolf, why wouldn't he just phase to talk to me? Something must be wrong if he'd bothered to call. I had to phase back. This better be worth it. I was probably going to blow my cover.

"What's it Jared?" I snapped, yet kept my voice to a whisper.

"Hello Jacob."

"Edward?" Hearing his voice on the other end of the line caught me off guard and mine came out louder than it should have. He'd called a couple of times earlier this morning, but I thought he was still in France.

My plan was to call him back later tonight, once Dave and I were safely back home at Billy's. Maybe. I'd been doing that a lot since I got here. Not actually talking to anyone unless it was an absolute emergency.

Not even Nessie, though it killed me to do so. I missed her so much. I can't believe I missed Valentine's Day. I had so much to make up for when this was all over. But for now I thought that talking to her on the phone, or even worse Skyping with her, seeing her face, would be too much. It would make me abandon my mission and run back home to my beloved. But I couldn't, I had to stay focused. This was too important.

If Eddie was using Jared's phone it meant he wasn't in France anymore; he must be in Washington. And he would only come here if there was an emergency. I started to panic. "Is Nessie alright?"

"That's why I'm here. I need to talk to you, in person."

"Please, just tell me that she's okay?" My voice got louder with each word.

"Physically she's fine."

Thank goodness. But there was an edge to his voice that told me there was more that he wasn't telling me. It seemed like whatever he wanted to say he was going to wait to tell me in person.

"Alright, um, where are you right now?"

"I'm at the treaty line... wait, here is Jared."

"Hey Jake, Edward wants permission to come onto the Res. I don't have a problem with it, since he just wants to talk to you, he says he'll leave as soon as he's done, and promises to stay with you the whole time. Sound good? Want me to bring him over to you?"

That's a lot different than what I had to go through with Sam and the Elders, to get Nessie there when she was younger to hang out. But this was going to be a onetime thing, like when Sam let Alice and Jasper cross our lands into the ocean prior to when the Volturi were coming.

"Err I'm actually just outside of the Makah Reservation."

"O... kay. Um, Where about? I'll bring Edward to you."

"Sure, sure," I replied, before quickly let him know exactly where I was before hanging up the phone.

What exactly did Edward want? And how was I going to continue to keep tabs on David while talking to Edward? What was I going to do?

Embry! He was nearby.

I quickly texted Embry to phase and I did the same. Once we were both in our Wolf forms I asked him to come take my place. Thankfully he wasn't doing anything he couldn't get out of and showed up a few minutes later. After filling Embry in on what I needed I went to meet Jared and Edward. The location I gave was a half mile from Dave. Having Edward's _odor_ in the area wouldn't help anything.

"I got your location out of Jared's head," Edward told me, while tapping his own. I thought Jared would have chaperoned Edward here, but must have stayed on the Res. Did he trust Edward, were there other issues… dangers he was dealing with? Whatever the reason Edward never filled me in, even though he must have heard why, instead he just turned and without a word, walked deeper into the forest, away from my son, leaving me to follow.

_Alright Edward, you're here, we're alone, now what's going on? _I didn't really have time for games. We'd already been walking for twenty minutes. I was still a Wolf; I wanted to watch through Embry, that everything was going okay.

"My daughter seems to be under the impression that you're angry at her, and that you've left her for what she did."

What! How could she think that? _Hasn't Billy been giving her my messages? _

"Yes but she'd doubted they were really from you, since you never spoke directly her, she thinks Billy is just trying to placate her."

_That's insane. She knows I love her. But really what am I supposed to do about her craving my blood mess? _We were stuck at an impasse.

"I know Jacob. The situation doesn't look good."

_You know I would gladly give Nessie my blood. All of it, if she needed or even just wanted it. I love her more than anything. But that wouldn't really solve the problem and I know it would be… upsetting for her. _Killing me would torment her and that would just lead to a whole new set of problems. But I wouldn't be alive anymore to help. I don't want to just solve one problem to cause her a new set of them.

I couldn't stand to be the cause of any of her problems or pain in any way. _I don't know what to do. Edward I don't know how to fix this. _

I began thinking over the only solution I was able to come up with. The one Nessie had already rejected. I showed Edward how I wanted to get her to drink from me and have donated blood nearby to transfuse me, just in case. Even thought Nessie had already rejected it, maybe Edward could get her to agree.

"My daughter was right," he replied. "Your solution wasn't one. It would have been too dangerous. Just like Renesmee thought, there would have been almost no way she would have been able to stop herself. And who would have been available to set up the IV for you?"

_Yeah, I guess it really wouldn't... _

"Of course now that we're all back -"

All of the Cullen's are back? Of course I should have known they would all come here together.

"I'm the only one in Washington," he corrected me. The rest of the family is with Nessie and Felicity in New Hampshire. But back to your plan... what you're suggesting is extremely dangerous Jacob."

Wait! He's really considering it? _Does this mean you think it might work? _

"It could," he hesitated. "But it would be hard, painful -" Doesn't he know that I'm more than willing to put up with some pain if it would help my Angel.

"For both of you."

Oh! The last thing I wanted to do was cause Nessie pain.

"We would probably have to rip her off of you, if her bloodlust has gotten as bad as she says," he continued, ignoring my inner ramblings. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he figured out the exact mechanics of how this would all work. I might be reunited with my Angel before I expected. Well as soon as I was done dealing with the current fiasco.

"What fiasco?" That got Edwards attention.

_Um… I've had some rather unexpected issues with my son that I've needed to deal with. It's what has taken up almost every minute of my time here. And there's also Billy's health, I'm not sure you know, I've tried to keep most of it from Nessie, but Billy isn't doing so well. It's why I haven't been able to get back to Nessie, why I didn't answer the phone when you called, _I thought to him, while visualizing everything I've been dealing with this past month:

Soon after Dave and I first arrived, I'd thought it would be nice if my son could get better acquainted with my old friends and Pack members, Quil and Embry, (former Pack, in Quil's case). I set up a picnic lunch for all of us to take place that Saturday. I know he'd met Quil before but this time he and Embry were bringing their Imprints. The four of them planned to meet us on First Beach at noon. The truck delivering Dave's new mattress arrived just as we were getting ready to leave so we were running late and had phased to make up the time. They were all at the beach waiting for us when we finally got there.

Quil was thrilled because Claire's mother had let her come down for the _entire_ day from the Makah Reservation. That in and of itself was unusual, she went to visit with Quil every couple of days, but only for a few hours after school, or he would go up there to see her. But it was never enough, not for Imprints. But it was the weekend, and the weather was actually nice for a change, so Claire's mom had said they could hang out for the entire day… provided she bring her older sister, Janet, with her.

Claire and Janet were only separated by a few years of age, but with Claire spending so much time with Quil, due to his Imprinting on her, back when she was just two years old, the sisters never really hung out that much. Now Claire was ten and they were practically strangers.

It was a little sad really. I'd hoped that one of the younger Wolves would have Imprinted on Janet, someone that could be her best friend, too. But it had never happened. I'd thought that it was nice that she was tagging along for our picnic. She was probably a little lonely, not having any other brothers or sisters to play with.

Janet was playing when she heard a rustle in the woods, and looked over to see what made the noise. It was us she'd heard. Our giant Wolf forms are not exactly quiet in the dense forest brush.

And then it happened. David took one look at her, from the edge of the forest, their eyes met and I knew I'd lost my son.

Damn-it! Thirty seconds prior, I'd been wishing that someone would have Imprinted on Janet and now that it had actually happened, I wasn't feeling that same level of enthusiasm. At least with her only being thirteen years old it would give the two of them a few years to grow up a bit before anything even started to turn romantic.

_MINE! _I heard David say to himself as his eyes locked onto hers.

What? Oh crap! I didn't like what was going on in his head. It was way too soon for him to be thinking like that.

_Wait son. We need to talk a little about what just happened. _I positioned myself in front of him as he went to go move towards her.

I think I was going to have to explain Imprinting and the birds and the bees to him, all at the same time. I guess it's my fault for waiting but I never thought my one and a half year old would Imprint so young.

How much was I really going to have to tell him though? I was sure he already learned more than I would have liked from Leah and myself when we were both phased.

I'd tried to keep thoughts of Nessie and my private time out of my thoughts when I was a Wolf, but I unfortunately know I slipped, at least twice, in front of him. That combined with the biology school work he learned from Carlisle meant that there was probably little he didn't already know. And I don't even want to think about what he picked up from Leah's thoughts.

_Sheesh Dad, enough with the mental images. Gross. I've already seen more than I wanted to of you and Mom like that. And don't bother anyway, you're right. I'm pretty sure I know all I need too. _

_Okay, Dave, no sex talk. _I could now also see for myself that he did in fact already know more than enough. Too much actually.

Someone had some explaining to do. Paul, maybe, or more likely Leah. I don't think Leah meant too but once the secret of her and Nahuel's relationship was out in the open, but before they broke up, the two of them weren't exactly discreet. And it now seems like she hadn't guarding her thoughts, when phased, as much as she should have, and Dave had clearly snooped around. I probably should be mad at him too, but I understood what it was like to be a teenage boy. Leah really must have been completely caught up daydreaming about Nahuel that she didn't realize my son was peeking into her head. It's happened before, usually to one of the guys shortly after they Imprinted. It's hard to think of anything else other than ones Imprint. But Leah never Imprinted on Nahuel.

Later, that was a problem for later.

_We need to talk about Imprinting, Dave. _

_I don't want to talk Dad. I need to go to her. Look at her, look how unhappy she is. _

Unhappy? She was playing, on the beach, with everyone else. Even though Quil had Imprinted on Claire, her sister didn't know anything about Wolves. Luckily Quil had seen us too and quickly distracted her so she wouldn't get freaked out seeing two giant Wolves so close. She was smiling and laughing, maybe not as much as the other two couples, not that Quil and Claire were a couple yet, but they were still each other's perfect other half. No one was going to be as happy as a Wolf and his Imprint, but Quil was doing his best to include Janet in on the fun.

They were playing around at the edge of the water, splashing and kicking, trying to soak each other. It looked like they were all laughing and having a good time. Then Quil, joking around picked up Janet and threw her into the water, before he jumped in himself and they continued their splashing game.

The next thing I knew Dave was trying to get around me, heading towards them. I saw what he was planning and I immediately jumped in front of him again. Using my head I pushed him back, forcing him back into the cover of the trees, while questioning him, _What exactly do you think you're doing? _

_He touched her! _Dave screamed to me in his head. _He threw her into the water. She could have gotten hurt. I'm going to rip him apart after making sure she's okay. _

_You can't go over there like this. Not as a Wolf. _YOU_ could hurt her! And Janet doesn't know anything about Wolves. Even if you didn't hurt her, you still probably would have scared her to death. _

_I wasn't going to hurt her. I would never! But I need to get her away from that guy. His hands were all over her. She's Mine! _

_First of all, Quil didn't have his hands all over Janet. He Imprinted on Claire. Do you know what Imprinting is?_

_Of course I do. It's like true love, or something. Like what you did to Mom, or what Uncle Paul did with Aunt Rachel. It's finding your soulmate, right?_

_That's about it, _I reassured Dave._ So you know Quil doesn't have any feelings or desires for Janet. He only sees and loves Claire. _

_Good, because Janet is Mine! _

The way he kept saying, or thinking, '_Mine'_ was really starting to worry me. _That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, David. Just because you Imprinted on Janet does not automatically make her yours. She gets a choice. She might fall in love with you or not. She may choose someone else. _

_No! She can't. _His anger disappeared for a moment and was replaced with panic, but then I could feel his anger slowly coming back. _We belong together. _

He started picturing the two of them together.

Argh! This wasn't going well.

_Look at her, David. She's still a child. What you're thinking... if you were to act on it… do it, any of it, it's going to get you arrested. _I wanted to tell him more… how it might make her hate him, or at the very least make her scared of him. And her parents would never let him near her if they found out. _You can't touch her like _that_ for at least five years. Not until she turns eighteen. And that's only if she wants you too. _

_Why? I'm not even two. _

_David she's still a child. Besides you don't even know her. You need to slowly introduce yourself to her and then overtime build up a friendship. Eventually if she wants your relationship to turn romantic then that's her choice. Her decision, not yours, _I stressed

_But I love her. I need to be with her. _

_I know it feels that way, but that's not how Imprinting works. _

We never made it to the picnic. I couldn't risk letting Dave get that close to Janet… not yet. But he wouldn't leave; demanding we stay so he could protect her should the need arise, so we stayed at the edge of the forest, close to the beach, but safely out of sight.

I spent the time going over exactly what Imprinting was to Dave, but even though he sorta listened to what I said, he didn't want to wait. He kept trying to go to her and I had to keep forcing him back into the woods. What was wrong with him? Quil and I never thought of our child Imprints like that. It was always keeping them safe, making them happy, and giving them what they needed. Our wants and needs had always come second.

"His Vampire side might be interfering with some of your Quileute Wolf magic," Edward surmised after I finished recalling everything. He looked a little ill, not that he could actually get sick. "Or perhaps it's because he's technically still so young."

_Yeah, maybe, _I growled_. _I wasn't in the mood for guesses._ He can't seem to stay away from her (as much as I tried I couldn't keep him away from her forever) and even though she's tolerated him always being around, she sees him as an adult. She's a girl, barely a teenager. She's into __Nick Robinson, Ansel Elgort and other boys in movies and boy bands right now. She doesn't see him like that, and she shouldn't. I've spent almost every waking minute, that I'm not looking after Billy, here either watching to make sure he doesn't jump her or trying to talk some sense into him. _I know he's my son and I love him, but he's the most stubborn man on the planet.

"I definitely would have to agree with you on that Jacob, but it seems like there might be more going on here than just his unwillingness to err... _compromise_ on this. It's almost as if you and your son were destined to live two completely separate lives. Everything that has happened to you has pushed you away from your home on the Quileute Reservation. But for your son, everything in his life keeps thrusting him here, like this is where he's supposed to be, even down to him Imprinting so quickly on someone, as completely as he had."

What was that supposed to mean? Was he implying that I wasn't completely devoted to his daughter? I know that was ridiculous, but what did he mean?

"Have you actually looked into David's mind recently? I know you've heard his thoughts, but have you understood their meaning? I've been listening and while I'm not exactly sure what he feels towards the girl, it doesn't seem like he still wants to _physically_ be with her.

_He's just not thinking about it at the moment, _I argued back. Why the hell did Edward think I was still out here, if my son's thoughts had turned innocent?

"Hmmm," Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you sure? Could they have and now he wants to only be near her, just like he needs to be here, in this place? He Imprinted. You know what that means. I don't think that he would ever be able to leave her anymore than you would be able to truly leave my daughter. His Imprinting just seems to be another thing to tie him to the Reservation."

_What are you implying? That you think his Imprinting is unnatural? That they aren't really Soulmates? _That was ridiculous. I know Dave's Imprinting was a little odd, he didn't seem to be as concerned about Janet's feelings (or youth) as I would have assumed, but he wasn't exactly normal. Some things were bound to be a little off, I guess. But that didn't mean that his Imprinting was fake.

"No, not fake, Jacob. I believe it's real, but I think all of the events of his life have conspired, in a way, so that he would find her, right away, to Imprint on her, so that he would stay here. That way there would be no way you could bring him back home to New Hampshire." Edward gave me a knowing look. "Everything seems to be so extreme with him for some unknown reason; like there is a greater purpose. That he needs to be here. I'm just not sure what that purpose is exactly," he shrugged.

This was getting ridiculous. What greater purpose was there in him wanting to molest some innocent little girl?

"That's not going to happen, Jacob. Please just try to take a step back and see the big picture. Think about it. You once felt the same way when you first Imprinted on Nessie."

_Like hell I did! _

"That's not what I mean. Do you remember explaining to Bella, while she was attacking you, after she was first changed, that her giving birth to Renesmee, so you could Imprint on her, was part of some bigger _plan_ all along. You understood back then that that was the reason why you had first become friends with Bella. Why you were so attracted, protective of her, so that you could someday be with her daughter."

Yeah, I guess Eddie… I was right about that. But that didn't mean he was right about David's intentions. I still needed to watch my son and make sure he didn't do something stupid.

"Tell me this Jacob, what were you planning to do, hide in the woods around the Makah Reservation for the next half decade, while you wait for this girl to grow up? Until it's proper for your son to be alone with her?" And that's only IF she falls in love with him?

Honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead. Between the pain of being away from my Imprint, worrying about Billy's health, the turmoil going on in my son's head, and just trying to keep him from getting arrested, and her safe from him, I've been living pretty much one day, one hour at a time; just being able to get through each day without a catastrophe happening. _I know. You're right, Edward. Dave and I are going to have to figure this out and soon. _

"I'm glad you agree. Do you mind if I try and talk with my Grandson, tonight?"

_Be my guest, I don't see how it could hurt, _I signed. _Now could you tell me how bad are things with Nessie? Why exactly are you here?_

Seeing the concern on his face made my stomach turn to knots. "Things are not well with her. She's losing it without you there."

Crap! I'd hoped the separation wouldn't to be as bad for her as it was for me. What was I going to do?

"That's why I'm here," he said matter-of-factly. "I came to bring you home."

_As much as I would love to see Nessie, _more than love, NEED to see her, it was killing me to be away from her for so long, _how exactly do you see that being possible? I can't leave... _

"Jacob, not that I think he needs it, but you're not the only one who can watch over your son. Embry is currently doing a fine job. And I'm sure he would be more than capable of continuing after you left. And there is also Quil. He will most likely be with Claire the same time David is with Janet. Wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity for the sisters to get reacquainted?"

_It's not their responsibility. David is my son. They can't look after him all the time. _

"Neither can you. Look at yourself. When was the last time you slept? Or showered?" He scrunched his nose and I wasn't sure if he was teasing or not. I was pretty rank.

Edward was right. I'd been so worried about Dave sneaking off in the night that I never really allowed myself to fall into a deep sleep, and never for more than a few hours; always checking to see that he hadn't snuck away.

_I know I'm probably being paranoid, and overprotective. It's just that his thoughts about her are so... intense. I'm scared of what he's going to do. _

Edward chose this moment to pick a stray snow clump that had fallen onto his shoulder from the tree above. With his icy cold skin it didn't melt as he pinched it between his fingers. "What has he said when you talked to him about it?" he eventually asked me.

Snippets of the conversation I already recounted flashed through my mind. All I got from David was that Janet was _his_ and he needed to possess her, all of her. What else did he need to know?

"That was a month ago. What has he said recently?"

Recently? _He only lashes out, yelling and screaming for me to leave him alone. _

Edward rolled his eyes as he tossed the snow away. "Why do you think that is?"

Huh? It may be the sleep deprivation but I wasn't exactly understanding what Edward was asking me.

"Jacob, he has not made a move against, or rather towards, the girl in a month. It's possible that if he was going to do something he would have done it already."

_Or he's just waiting for an opening. _For me to let my guard down. That's why I can't. Doesn't Edward see that?

"You need to trust him. Even if his Imprinting seems different than others, he still Imprinted. I doubt he would really do anything that would hurt the girl."

_ And what happens if you're wrong?_

"Let me see what I learn when I talk to him, but Jacob, I think you need to have some faith in your son."

_Like you had for me with your daughter?_ I growled as I started recalling an incident where he threw me against a wall and started choking me, when he thought I slept with a teenage Nessie, after I'd simply started training her to fight. _I'm not the only overprotective father here._

But deep down I knew he was right. David was a good kid, if not a _tad_ judgmental. He valued life, well human life, above all else, and Janet was human. Maybe if I stopped to think about it, or even if listened to the other Wolves when they said basically everything that Eddie just had, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble. But that was a big _if_, and if they were wrong the consequences would be unforgivable. I still needed to take precautions.

When Janet had to go home for dinner Edward went to talk to Dave. My son nearly flipped out when he first saw Edward, and me, approach him. I knew he wouldn't appreciate having his grandfather, a Vampire, on Pack land but Edward offered to take him out to dinner in Seattle. Dave only agreed to go at my assurance that the rest of the Cullens were in New Hampshire and that I would stay and watch over Janet while he was gone.

When they got back Edward assured me that he didn't believe my son was an imminent threat to his Imprint, or her 'virtue', as he put it. That made me feel better and I began to relax.

The next day I talked Jared. With some convincing he eventually agreed to have his Pack keep an eye on my son and Janet whenever she was on the Res, and Quil and Embry promised to watch them on the Makah Reservation.

I also asked all of them to be on the lookout for when David stopped aging and to call me immediately when he did. I gave them a rough estimate of when I believed it would be - in about eight months, if our calculations were correct, so that they would know to keep Janet safe, just in case, until I could fly back. I didn't want him trying to feed on her, in addition to everything else.

With Dave all sorted out (at least according to Edward) all I had to deal with was my father. His health was not doing as well as I would like. But once he was feeling better I could finally get back to Nessie.

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**A.N.** Thanks for reading. Please review


	24. Don't Leave Me

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Four**

**Don't Leave Me**

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Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

I woke up to the smell of freshly milled wood, cut grass, and motor oil.

Mmmm, that was the smell, Jake's smell, that I loved so much. I've missed it.

Wait a minute. Why was I smelling him now? Jake wasn't here. He was still in La Push and had been for over a month.

When my father few there to bring him home I was furious… at first. I was worried I wouldn't be able to control my thirst and suck him dry as soon as he walked through the door. My family quickly made me see that that was ridiculous. They were all here and my grandfather particularly assured me that not only would they prevent any harm coming to him, but would work night and day, literally 24/7, until they came up with a solution to end my blood-craving.

I believed them, and was excited to see my soulmate again. The next morning I actually got out of bed, showered, brushed my hair, and put on some clean clothes. While I had been occasionally getting up and mindlessly wandering around the house, I hadn't been doing the other things. I still couldn't bring myself to eat anything, but felt much better.

Planting myself by the front door I refused to budge until I saw my father's car pull up. My mother didn't know what flight they would be on, so I wasn't sure when my Jacob would be returning to me, but when he arrived I wanted to be the first one to see him. I wanted him to see me, let him know that I was here… waiting for him, that I loved him. I waited for hours.

I didn't move.

Esme tried to get me to go into the kitchen and eat, Aunt Rose offered me a chair to sit in, Aunt Alice wanted me to return to my room with her to pick out a more _appropriate_ welcome home outfit.

More hours passed. It was getting dark, and as the last of the sun's rays vanished so too did my hope that I would see Jake today.

I was getting tired. My legs hurt from standing still for so long. My eyes were starting to droop. Still I refused to budge.

When the sun started to rise the next morning and my father still hadn't returned with Jake my heart sake. He knew how much Jake meant to me, how much I missed him and how much I needed him. While I'm not proud of it I knew that if Jake had wanted to see me again, even the tiniest little bit my father would have read it in his mind and used it to manipulate him onto a plane. Even if every flight was booked (which first class never was) my father would have chartered a private jet if it saved me a minute of heartache. The fact that they were not here right now meant Jake didn't want to see me.

He must hate me.

"I'll call Edward and see when they'll be getting here," my mother said before my tears could start falling.

"Don't worry about it Nessie," Uncle Emmett chuckled. I didn't see what was funny. I wanted to hear what my father was saying on the other end of the line, but his current shenanigans, bouncing a ball from the floor, to the wall, then up to the ceiling before catching it and re-throwing it, over and over, combined with the noise from the TV my aunts were watching, was making it impossible. "Edward will bring Jacob back here even if he has to break all his bones and carry him back to do it

That did NOT make me feel better.

My mother then slipped her phone back in her pants pocket. "It seems there are some unexpected _issues_ that have to be dealt with." She looked worried.

"What issues?" I had asked her.

She hugged me. "I don't want to upset you any more than you already are, but can you believe me when I say that there reasons for staying has nothing to do with you?"

Though I nodded in agreement, I didn't really believe her; clearly my father was having a hard time convincing Jake to come home either because he was still angry at me or worried I would drink him dry. Both reasons seemed valid to me so I couldn't really blame him.

I ended up crawling back into bed. And stayed there.

That was a week ago; my mom talked to my father on the phone every day, and every night tried to convince me that it would probably only be another day until Jake and I were reunited. I dreamed of him every night but each morning woke up and he still wasn't here.

My brain must be starting to playing tricks on me. I just missed Jake so much that now I thought I could smell him. I guess that wasn't so unusual since he was all I dreamt of, but waking up this morning it seemed much more real.

Maybe I had just bought another piece of his clothing, from the hamper, into bed with me. I didn't remember doing that. I thought I'd already taken everything that he left here, and slept with it until all of his scent was gone. I didn't remember finding anything new last night, as I once again cried myself to sleep, but the more I woke up the more I thought it really was Jake I smelled this morning.

What was going on? I was either still asleep or maybe this was some new layer of hell that my brain was taking me into. I'd pushed him away and now my brain was rebelling, forcing me to pay for my actions, not only by imagining seeing him where he wasn't, envisioning him in my dreams, both waking and while I was asleep, but now smelling him too.

Hopefully this was just a stupid nightmare. It must be, so I might as well wake up and start another dreary, horrible day, without my soulmate.

I had to blink a couple of times when I opened my eyes. The torture was just beginning. I was awake and my brain had somehow managed to create its most realistic version of Jake yet. Normally I just imagined seeing him, the way one heard others on the news claim to see Jesus or bigfoot on burnt toast or tree bark - I would see Jake's face in a pile of dirty clothes, or suds in the tub, or something like that. And it was never a happy smiling Jake, he was always scowling at me, for how I'd betrayed him.

I deserved this. My brain was torturing me even more , I now saw him sitting right in front of me, on the edge of the bed. And to add to my torment, my throat was burning with desire for his blood. What kind of new hell was this? I can't take it anymore. I just gave up; throwing the covers over my head, I began weeping uncontrollably.

"Nessie?" I hear a voice whisper.

Oh, god! Now I'm hearing him, too. What's going on? I must really be going insane.

"Nessie?" the imaginary Jake voice called again.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO," I started chanting over and over again, rather loudly, while covering my ears with my hands. Maybe if I scream loud enough I'll drown out my own torturous brain.

"Renesmee, I'm sorry. I... I... Edward came and got me. He said that you wanted... that you needed me here... I thought... I thought this was what you wanted... I guess... I should... I'll go."

What? That can't really be my Jacob, could it?

Slowly, I pulled the covers down so my eyes could peek out and I saw a large Jacob like form slowly walking towards the door. No, it can't really be him. He left me and was still in La Push. But he looked, smelled, and sounded so real. Maybe it was really him! Even if it wasn't, this false Jacob was better than nothing. Maybe this wasn't my brain trying to torture me. Maybe it realized I needed him back and created this delusion to help me in some way. Maybe I should just go along with it.

"Jacob?" I whimpered.

"Renesmee," my hallucination said with a bit of hope now in its voice. It wasn't the broken sound that had called to me before.

Could it really be him? "Are... are you really back?" My throat was on fire. Fully awake now, I grasped that I clearly wasn't hallucinating, Jacob was really here with me in my... our room. And I wanted him. But I also wanted his blood.

Oh, no!

I promptly threw one hand over my mouth while wrapping the other around the bedpost as an anchor.

"Sorry," Jake mumbled as he dashed to the window and quickly opened it, letting some much needed fresh air in.

"Do you want me here?" he asked after moving back across the room as I switched placed with him and stuck my head outside to breath in some untainted, un-intoxicating air, before turning back to his waiting eyes. They were digging deep into mine, as if searching for answers. I didn't have any for him though.

"Of course I do, I love you. I need you here. I just…" needed to stick my head out the window and breathe some more fresh air, before I continued.

"Sorry," Jake mumbled to me.

While I was overjoyed that he was back, I... we both realized that his return didn't solve the problem of why he left in the first place. I stuck my head back out the window before attempting to talk again.

"What happened?" I cried. I thought he'd left me, either because he hated me, or because he was trying to protect himself, and me. And now he returns two weeks later.

Was it really two weeks? Thinking back I realized that it was that long. Part of me thought it was no more than a day, surely my heart would explode without seeing him any longer, but another part of me thought I hadn't seen him in months, possibly years. That's how much my heart hurt. But, no, it was two weeks. My father had left two weeks ago to go get my Jacob.

What the hell happened? What took them so long to come back?

"Why did you leave, why didn't you call, why -" No. I couldn't break down like this. I needed to be strong. If only so that Jake wouldn't rush across the room to try to comfort me. I couldn't have him that close.

After steadying myself, I began again. Slowly. Carefully. I asked Jake to tell me what happened while he was in La Push.

"David is settled in La Push," he began telling me, safety from across the room, "and he Imprinted." That seemed like it should be good news, so why didn't Jake look happy about it?

Over the next hour he quickly explained, telling me everything that had happened while he was gone.

"I hated being away from you but I had to stay out there so long to make sure that David's Imprinting was under control and he wouldn't be doing anything…" he paused for a moment, seemingly uncomfortable with whatever he was about to say, that or he was trying to think up an excuse. _"Inappropriate_," Jake finally said.

Inappropriate? What that was supposed to mean? I had a fairly good idea what it implied, but how could an Imprinting cause that kind of behavior, or even thoughts of it? But I didn't think Jake would make something like that up, especially about his own son. It had to be true. Yikes!

I needed more air, but this time, when I shoved my head out the window, I wasn't completely convinced that it was only because of Jake's scent. This news about my son was shocking, if not worrisome.

"Breathe Nessie," my father said while stroking my back. I'd just thought how I wished Jake could be doing that, and clearly he'd heard, and was trying to help. "I am," he confirmed.

"Will David's Imprint be okay without someone there to… err, protect her?"I asked them.

"Of course. We stayed until we were sure David wouldn't be a threat to Janet, or himself, or anyone else," my father said "I wanted to be sure his intentions were _honorable."_

"David agreed to Skype with us at least once a week," Jake continued to explain, as I alternated between holding my breath and sticking my head out the window, as my father held me. I started to wondered if part of the reason he'd come over here was to be closer incase my control faltered and I went after Jake. The wince my father gave me at that thought confirmed it. "Jared's Pack, and Embry, will be keeping tabs on David and Janet. They'll intervene if it looks like David is about to cross the line."

I think the worry on my face prompted Jacob to attempt to assure me again that he and my father were confident that David would be fine... probably.

He went on to mention how David planned to start college next month and even got a job.

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah, I think Dave's even finally starting to like your Dad," Jake snickered, looking over at my father.

"And it only took me buying him a car. We'll call it an early birthday present," my father smirked.

"A car?" Of course my father would buy my son a car. Great. I'd hoped he'd learn some responsibility and grow up living on his own (sort of) in La Push, but how was he supposed to do that if his family was always taking care of everything for him?

"Well, he needed some way to get to class," my father offered as an explanation.

Speaking of growing up, I wonder how odd it must have looked to have a seventeen year old boy walk into the dealership to buy a twenty-three year old man a car? Hmmm. Not that he acted it but had my father always looked like an adolescent? When I was younger I didn't think so. I mean I know my dad was frozen at seventeen, but he's over a hundred years old. I hadn't seen him for months, and while others had _told_ me I looked six years older than him, this was the first time I really _understood_ how David and I appeared so much older than him. It was just so strange to think about. The salesperson probably didn't know what to make of it, either… not that they would have known they were grandfather and grandson.

"Nothing a little dazzling didn't take care of," my father chuckled. "The saleslady soon got over her shock and helped us find the perfect vehicle for your son."

"Great," I rolled my eyes. Of all the things I was concerned about right now that was not really high on my list. "Are you sure he's going to be okay now?"

"We'll check in every week just to make sure."

That didn't make me feel much better.

While I would have appreciated a phone call I understood Jake's reasoning for remaining there for so long. But why couldn't he once my father got there? Or anytime over the two weeks he was there? Wouldn't Jake have been able to take a break from guard duty once he had another set of eyes?

"You should tell her," my father whispered over to Jake.

What did Edward want him to tell me?

My father froze for a second. Was it because they were hiding a secret from me? Wait, I just referred to my father by his first name.

"Don't upset yourself; you should probably start doing that anyway. You were right before, you do appear older than your mother and I. And your aunts and uncles for that matter. It's probably best if you start calling all of us, your grandparents included, by our first names."

"Alright." This might be weird, but I'm sure I, and everyone else, will get use to it soon enough. "So what's the big secret?"

Edward and Jake locked eyes for a second.

"We stayed longer because of Billy," Jake sighed, finally breaking down and telling me about his father's declining health. He was very emotional but from what I understood Edward had stayed to doctor Billy, using his medical knowledge to get Jake's fathers diabetes under control. I wish Jake had told me how sick he was, but Jake wasn't aware of anything that could be done. "I thought my father was receiving competent medical care," he told me. I guess that meant he wasn't.

While my grandfather was the official doctor in the family, my father knew just as much, he just didn't have the control over his thirst to practice on actual living, bleeding human beings. But Billy's _simple_ case of advanced diabetes, he could handle.

"Billy's doing so much better now," Jake went on. "The feeling's even returned to his hand, not that he, or Rachel, or Paul," he growled, "ever thought to mention that it had ever left."

"When I first examined him I was worried a few of his fingers might need to be amputated, but if he keeps to his diet and takes his medicine when he is suppose to he should be fine. I arranged for a full time nurse to stay with him," my father added, "she's been instructed to call me immediately if his health declines in the slightest."

"That's great, I'm sure it will be a real help to him." Now I felt so selfish for the way I acted.

"I think he would have been more upset about not being able to hold the TV remote than the loss of a few digits," Jake joked, but it didn't reach his eyes. Those were full of worry.

Jake was dealing with so much. "I wish I knew all of this before today, I feel horrible that Edward dragged you back. You should still be with Billy-"

"Nessie," Jake cut me off, "with everything you were dealing with already, between us, I didn't want to burden you with my father's health issues. And I needed to come back. You need me to."

I felt even more selfish now. "Jake, I should have been stronger; I let you down."

"You could never do that. We just need to figure out how we're going to deal with our own... issue, and then when we're back to nor -"

Now it was my turn to cut him off. "But Jake, your father could have died. He still could -" What else could I say? "Please know that you can count on me if you need me, no matter what." I hoped he could see the determination in my eyes. Of course it probably would have been more believable if I didn't have to remain on the other side of the room from him.

Jake didn't answer, he just nodded. I hoped he believed me.

Billy wasn't going to live forever, he was human after all. So was my Grandfather Charlie. So were Jake's sisters, and all of the Wolves, like Seth, that will choose to stop phasing to grow old and die with their Imprints. They will all die, eventually. Sooner, rather than later. Sometime within the next fifty to sixty years. Possibly a lot earlier.

But not Jake or me. Not my family. We were immortal. Few things could kill us. We would still appear as we do now in fifty, one hundred, two hundred years after that.

Everyone I know, outside of my family will be gone. Well, except for other Vampires and the two other remaining Half-Vampires, Nahuel and Jennifer. And possibly Leah, if she ever gets back together with Nahuel and decides to continue to phase like Jake. But right now that was looking like a pretty big 'if'. I hoped she did. While it was true that we never really got along, I believed Jake needed another Wolf in his life, someone from when he was human(ish).

I worried about him sometimes. For me the thought of being immortal was normal. Aging a lifetime in seven years and then becoming frozen at twenty-three forever was normal. It was all I knew. But Jake was born human. He grew up expecting to grow old and someday die. Just like everyone in his family and community. He never expected the everlasting life that now seemed to be before him. He would outlive everyone he knew and loved. And then he would be alone.

I know my father was listening to my thoughts. He quietly got up and left so I could talk to Jake in private.

_Thanks,_ I thought to him as he slipped out the door.

"Jake, why didn't you call me? Tell me what was going on? Why you weren't coming back? You put me through hell. I know staying was necessary, and I'm glad you did to ensure our son didn't do anything -" my voice trailed off, unable to finish the thought. "But the way you did it… cutting me off… not telling me…" I began over again, "Promise me that you will never leave me like that again." I was trying not to cry, but I was about to lose it.

"I didn't leave you, sweetheart. Not really. I would never leave you. You're my other half. I would never do that unless... unless you wanted me gone." Now it was his turn to take a deep breath before beginning again. "I just had to deal with David. The things that happened there, the situation, my -" he seemed to be searching for the right words, "I'm sorry it took so long. But if I contacted you… If I talked to you… heard your voice… You know I can never say no to you. I would have broken down… abandoned David…He might have… Janet wouldn't be..."

"I… I…" Crap. He was right. I didn't want to, but as much as I tried the tears started falling and I couldn't get them to stop.

"Nessie, I'm sorry. Please don't cry," Jake begged. "You were right. I'm sorry. Somehow... I should have found a way to call you... I -"

"No. You were right staying. But you still should have filled me in. Even if you weren't the one to talk to me in person you still needed to let me know what was going on. You could have told Billy, and he could have given me the message. Next time something happens, whatever challenge we face, we need to face it together. We're a team. We belong together. You can't leave me again. The pain… it hurt too much."

"Pain? What pain, Nessie? My pain? I could deal with it, leaving your presence if I knew it meant that you were happy," he said as I stuck my head out of the window. "I would leave again, if you needed me too, if it meant you wouldn't have to deal with the torment of your bloodlust," he gestured with his arm over to me and my current predicament.

This was more than just the bloodlust that I was talking about, but I guess we should really address that before we moved on.

"I don't want you to go and be in any type of pain, my Jacob. And your leaving wouldn't take mine away. It would add to it. I'd still crave your blood and would then also be in physical of pain from your absence. How would your leaving solving anything?"

"Renesmee, are you telling me that you feel pain when we're apart? Like I do?"

"Yes, of course. I thought you knew." He gave me a horrified look, so I guess he didn't. "I have a theory that since I'm Half-Vampire our Imprinting worked differently with us than the other Imprints and went both ways. I'm certain that I sort of Imprinted on you, too. Every since you officially became my mate, once I was determined in my choice… it hurts when ever we're apart; my heart physically aches, like its being torn apart and my head… I can't focus or concentrate. It starts like a dull hum, then gets louder and sharper the longer you're gone. I'm lost when you're not here. I always feel a kind of pull to you. I love you and cannot stand to see you unhappy, or hurt, or sad. It kills me to think of all the pain I put you through back when I tried dating Nahuel. I hadn't realized the extent of my side of our Imprinting back then, but I think it was the catalyst that lead me to the realization."

My words seemed to have shocked him, but I could see that he also thought it made sense.

"I'll never leave you again, sweetheart," he said to me while I once again grabbed a few lungfuls of fresh air, and sighed in relief.

We talked a little bit about the things I'd thought about earlier and when we had nothing else to talk about for today Jake quickly crossed the room, wrapped me in a dangerous hug, and then just as quickly exited our room.

He was back, but we still weren't together. Not completely. Mentally we were; but not physically. Not yet.

* * *

**A.N.** Well they're all back together... sorta. What do you think?


	25. My Six Weeks of Hell

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Five**

**My Six Weeks of Hell**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Oooowwww!

What hell had I signed up for here? Okay, sure it was for a good reason. Actually the best. Going through all of this pain was going to be worth it in the end. It was for a good cause - to help Nessie feed through her bloodlust for me. Eventually, after she had drunk enough of my blood we could be together again, like we were supposed to be, but I hadn't realized it would be this bad. Even still, I would do it for her, go though all this pain again, over and over, forever. Anything for her.

I loved my Ness, so I knew it would be worth it. But CRAP! I didn't think I would be begging for death now like I was. Not that I would ever say that out loud. No one, except Edward, knew how bad it was, and he better not mention anything to Nessie. I was doing this for her and didn't need him ruining it, not now that we were so close to being done... I hoped.

Finding no other options, the Cullens agreed to go through with my plan. Being the medical professionals in the family, Carlisle, Edward, and Rosalie had gone over the risks with Nessie and me. I knew the risk… I could die. So what! Living without my Imprint was worse than death. If Nessie was willing, so was I.

It took some convincing but she eventually agreed.

We'd followed the same pattern for just over a month now. In another universe her drinking my blood might have been an intimate experience. But this was anything but. Once a week I would make myself as comfortable as possible on the medical bed in Carlisle's office while he stood by with an IV and several bags of O negative, ready to transfuse into me. Nessie would drink from me until Carlisle gave the word that my heart was just about to stop beating, and Rosalie and Emmett would rip her off of me.

While it was painful for me, what really hurt was that I knew the process was just as painful for Nessie. Maybe more. She hated the fact that she couldn't stop herself on her own. But just as they promised, as soon as she was secure in Rosalie and Emmett's arms, Carlisle would insert the IV and the blood transfusion would commence.

This was the fifth time we tried it. Each time I recovered a little slower than the time before. My accelerated healing seemed to be on the fritz but Carlisle thought it was just temporary.

"Now I cannot be one hundred percent certain, but in my medical opinion, taking into consideration everything I have learned about Wolves over the years, I believe that this slow down in your healing is only temporary. Once this ordeal is over your advanced healing should return to the speed it was before. It's not gone; you still heal faster than a normal human, just not as quickly as you had two months ago."

That was a relief to hear, even if the Doc was doing little more than guessing. The one thing I couldn't understand was why it hurt so much. I mean Nessie bit me all the time when she was a baby. And on Isle Esme, I know I'd sliced into my own wrist, but when Nessie sucked out those few sips back then, it actually felt kinda good. But this was the exact opposite. It was an intense scorching pain. And I felt like she was draining the life out of me, which I guess technically she was, but I don't know. The first time wasn't that bad, but it got worse and worse as the weeks went by. Something just felt... wrong.

"Jacob, how are you feeling?" Carlisle asked me after he was finished with the latest transfusion.

"Like I got crushed by an army of newborns… minus the broken bones," I weakly chuckled, trying to keep the mood light.

He smiled back, but didn't actually seem happy, then his face got serious. "When you feel up to it there are certain matters we need to discuss."

"No, it's fine. Tell me now," I said as I attempted and failed to sit up. "Wait! Where's Nessie?" I amended. I didn't want her hearing anything he was about to say. The expression on his face told me it wasn't going to be good news.

"Alice and the rest of the ladies have already taken her shopping," he explained. That had been the trend lately, since my recovery time had increased. The first time she drank from me I was feeling fine after the first few bags of blood. Sure I was weak, but no one, especially me, wanted her to worry or feel bad about what she was doing to me, the pain she was causing me, or the increase in my recovery time. I'd suggested getting her out of the house on some excuse each week, and her family somehow had managed to make it happen. "They left over an hour ago," the Doc added.

"An hour ago? How's that possible? We just finished."

"I'm afraid you passed out on us, for a little while," he sighed, trying to hide the wince that was creeping onto his face. "Jacob, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm very concerned about the physical toll this is taking on your body. Edward has also informed me of the... physical pain and emotional toll you have been enduring. I wish you would have said something."

_Edward, you trader_, I thought to him. I was unsure if he was in the house or not, and if he would even be able to hear me, but I hoped he would. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not even Carlisle.

"Doc, I'll be fine, I can handle it," I sorta lied as I fought to not pass out. The room was spinning, but I fought to continue talking like it wasn't. "It shouldn't be that much longer until this is over with." Can it? "And besides, I'm not the priority. Nessie is. It doesn't matter what happens to me, if Nessie gets better. So what if I'm stuck in bed for a few extra days?"

Carlisle tried to keep his professional detached doctor face on, but I knew him long enough to tell when he was worried. "It's more serious than that, Jacob. It's getting harder and harder to revive you. There is a possibility that one of these times I won't be able to. If you don't care about your own life then think of what will happen to Renesmee. How do you think she would deal with your death on her hands?"

Damn-it! That was what I was trying to avoid with all of this, that's why we were doing this with Carlisle and the others here, so that _that_ wouldn't happen.

"We have to keep going. Nessie and I… we can't stay… _live_… apart. You know how much I love her… need her… I may as well be dead without her." When I was in La Push I felt like I was. "It's the same for her."

"Yes, I saw with my own eyes how bad she was without you when we first returned. Alright! We'll try this again," he begrudgingly agreed, after taking a ridiculously long time to think it over; in reality it was probably only a second, maybe two, but for him and his super-sonic Vamp speed brain that was incredibly longer than needed, under normal circumstances. "But only ONE more time, next week as planned." He then held up his index finger, at least I thought it was. Things got blurry for a second, and I thought I saw two… no, three fingers. Squeezing my eyes shut they returned to being a single digit when I opened them. He grimaced, noticing, but said nothing, only huffed. "If the next session doesn't end her thirst for your blood I'm going to have to look for other options. As strong as you think you are I don't believe your body can withstand much more. It's now taking you days, not hours, to recover. I'm concerned about what continuing Renesmee's... _treatments_ will do to you."

"Do you think it's at least working Doc? Please tell me that we haven't been doing this... that Nessie and I have not been going through all of this, for nothing."

"That's difficult to ascertain. Emmett and Rosalie haven't indicated that it has become any easier to wrench Renesmee from you," he huffed, before taking an unnecessary breath. "But on the plus side, they haven't mentioned any additional difficulty. Nessie did tell me that her thirst for you had been increasing each day and week before we'd returned. That has now leveled off so I would have to conclude that that means that things are improving... if only slightly."

That wasn't exactly the overwhelmingly positive news I was hoping for, but I'd take it.

"And if this doesn't work, Doc, what are we going to do? We can't stay away from each other forever."

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you, Jacob. We will just have to wait and see."

Great!

So for now I guess there was nothing to do but lay back and wait for my body to recover.

Alice managed to keep Nessie out of the house, on an extended shopping trip to Boston overnight and well into the next day, so that when she and her aunts returned I was almost completely back to normal. I was still feeling a little weak, but Emmett came up with a perfect solution.

"Emmett you don't need to carry me," I told him as he picked me up and started to bring me from Carlisle's office to the living room.

It was March Madness, so the TV was normally on, almost none-stop, this time of year anyway. Spending the rest of the night sitting on the couch wouldn't arouse that much suspicion.

"Yeah, I do. Can't have you falling down and banging your head again," he chuckled as he dropped me onto the couch. "Nessie will be back soon, and it would be better if you were conscious, when she sees you."

"That's not what happened," I argued back as I nearly wore myself out trying to get up into a natural looking sitting position. Sure, I'd stumbled, a tiny bit, when I got down from the hospital bed, but that was only because the Doc wouldn't let me out at all yesterday, or this morning, or afternoon, and my foot had fallen asleep.

When the ladies finally shuffled through the door everyone looked happy. Their arms were full of bags and completely consumed with their recent purchases. I don't think Nessie noticed anything.

At least something was going right.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

Even after a month and a half of drinking Jacob's blood, it was still hard for us to be in the same room together. But the need, the pull, to be near each other, was still there. And the more we tried to deny it the stronger it got. Eventually we had to give in... for at least a few hours each day; if we didn't one, or both of us, would have gone insane.

Tonight was hard. My throat burned for Jake's blood and I was fighting with myself to not run over to him and sink my teeth in his throat. It was a constant struggle, but though unusual. But tonight was also weird... and getting weirder. I was sitting closest to an open window. Someone had set up a fan in it to blow fresh air into the room for me. It also helped that we were sitting on opposite sides of the room, with Leah _AND_ Nahuel between us. That was the weird part.

The four of us were all watching some movie Leah had picked out. At least that was what we were supposed to be doing. I wasn't really watching the screen anymore; I was too distracted by the events taking place to the left of me. Leah and Nahuel were actually, impossibly, _snuggling_ on the corner of the couch and had started making out... twenty minutes ago.

I guess they had worked out their issues. But still I wanted conformation so I discreetly too out my phone and texted Jacob.

* * *

**March 28**

I wonder what happened that got Leah and Nahuel back together?

7:42PM

* * *

Knowing them it had probably come to blows and they must have nearly killed each other before realizing they still loved one another.

I'm glad that they were back together now. Nahuel had been a shadow of himself the past few months. And Leah… she would either glare or growl at him, whenever they happened to cross paths, whenever she would come by to visit Felicity; that or completely ignore him, pretending he didn't even exist.

Since Nahuel now thought of Leah as his true mate, it really looked like it had been killing him not to be with her. I'd heard the stories of how my parents went through something similar when my father stupidly left my mother, back when she was still human.

Leah hadn't Imprinted on Nahuel, but she knew that he basically had done the Vampire version of Imprinting on her. I know it was partially my fault, but what was she thinking treating him like she had? She'd refused to talk to me about it so I had no idea. But I guess they had gotten past it... somehow.

I was so glad.

I'd felt horrible. The misunderstanding that led to them being separated had been entirely my fault. Jake and I both tried talking to her, again and again, to explain things but she refused to talk to either us, as well. Only Felicity had been immune to her anger, since Leah saw her as the only innocent one in all of this. She wouldn't even talk to my parents, aunts, uncles or grandparents. And they weren't even here at the time this all took place.

A minute later my phone buzzed. Jake had texted back.

* * *

**March 28**

pretty simple

I phased wth L

she saw truth bout what really happnd

7:43PM

* * *

Oh, I guess I should have thought of that. Wait a minute...

* * *

**March 28**

How did you get Leah to phase with you?

I thought she was refusing to do that.

That she wanted you out of her head.

7:43PM

* * *

Jake looked like he was struggling with what to say next. His fingers were sliding across his screen so I was expecting a large text back.

As soon as my phone buzzed Jake's eyes dropped to the floor instead of over to me as they had been. Whatever had happened it looked like he was ashamed for whatever occurred.

* * *

**March 28**

i know

it wasnt easy

7:46PM

* * *

That was shorter than I expected. He must have erased a lot of what he first typed. But why?

Realization then dawned on me. If I was right he did something he'd promised himself he would never do.

* * *

**March 28**

Did you Alpha Order Leah to phase with you?

7:47PM

* * *

Jake nodded over to me, before continuing to type back.

* * *

**March 28**

would not have if had other choice

didnt see other way L or N 2 move on if L didnt no truth

couldnt stand for her 2 be hurting

knew she would be happier this way

felt like good outw8d bad

but was still wrong of me 2 do

7:49PM

* * *

I wasn't sure if Jake was trying to convince me or himself, as he texted on and on. He hated taking people's free will away. As far as I knew his was only the second time he'd ever given an Alpha command; the first time not meaning to, and he felt so guilty about it that time, just like he did now.

"But look at how happy she is ," I quietly whispered, to Jake. Leah and Nahuel would have also been able to hear me, but I didn't think they'd have a clue what I was talking about. Judging by the way Leah burst into a laugh after Nahuel nuzzled kisses into her neck, I don't think either of them did, and if they did they were certainly not paying attention.

Yikes! The way they started pawing at each other… I was actually getting a little embarrassed being in the same room as the two of them right now. Jake was too, judging by the look on his face. They were really getting carried away on the couch. Maybe they needed to take this somewhere more private. That or we should leave.

Right on cue Jake tilted his head toward the front door as he got up, walked over to where I was sitting, and held out his hand for me.

I was a little worried about being alone with him. What if I lost control?

No, I could do this. We would be outside, in the fresh air. I would be fine as long as I didn't get too close to him, no matter how much I wanted to.

We would be close enough tomorrow when I fed from him. Part of me was excited by the thought that I got to drink, to indulge in Jake's sweet taste again, but another part hated that I was hurting my Jacob, however briefly. I loved the taste of his blood but hated what that made me. I was willing to risk my soulmates life for my own selfish needs. I was truly a monster - no matter how much Jake tried to deny it.

Afterwards Alice and Rose were planning to take me shopping in New York, for another "fun-filled" weekend in an attempt to cheer me up.

My life was so weird.

Why did we have to drive so far away? These _Cheer-Nessie-Up_ sessions were getting more and more elaborate. Alice told me she was planning on us staying for the entire weekend this time. I wanted – and hated wanting - more of my Jacob's blood. Both realizations were disturbing.

And what was worse was that I wasn't even sure if it was working. My cravings weren't going away. I know Nahuel said this would take anywhere from a month to a year. Well, it had been over a month but I could detect no change. I didn't know how much longer I could do this.

I know I got depressed after I drank from Jacob, but it just proved to myself how little self control I actually had. And I hated myself more because I was never able to stop feeding from him, myself. At least it was comforting to know that he was a Wolf and recovered quickly, once Carlisle replenished his blood. It wasn't like I was really hurting him in the long run.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

I was getting settled into the hospital bed, in Carlisle's office again, for our sixth and final attempt to cure Nessie's bloodlust.

At another time, in another place, this might have been a romantic undertaking - Our bedroom, just the two of us, Nessie climbing on top of me, after I laid back in the bed. She'd straddle me; I'd grab her waist, and pull her even closer. Then she'd lean down, nuzzling herself into the crook of my neck. Her hair would fall forward, covering her face and I'd reach up to sweep it back. Our eyes would meet and then, with my hands still in her hair, guide her lips to mine. Breathing deeply she'd become intoxicated by my scent, as I would with hers. Eventually she'd make her way from my mouth back to my neck. In my fantasy her bite was pleasurable… erotic even.

But the reality was cold, medical. Neither of us got any enjoyment out of it. Quite the opposite. We weren't in our bedroom, but the Doc's office. It wasn't our warm cozy bed, but a fancy medical cot, Carlisle had acquired from some hospital. It wasn't an intimate moment between the two of us, but overseen by at least three others. Neither one of us were getting turned on by any of this. There would be no pleasure taking from any of the events of today.

But still it had to happen; it was necessary. It was needed.

_Please, please, please let this work. It just has to work,_ I chanted to myself, over and over again as Carlisle finished his preparations and it looked like we were going to begin.

As usual, the Doc had acquired bags and bags of donated blood, all set up to transfuse into me, while Rose and Em stood by to yank Nessie off of me before it was too late.

Jasper couldn't stand being around so much human blood so Alice would take him hunting. Bella and Edward refused to be in the room during any of these _treatments,_ for lack of a better word, and Felicity was never anywhere near the house. Esme usually took her to the movies or something, to distract her. I was so appreciative; she didn't need to see this.

David hadn't been told anything about what we were doing, or attempting to do, and everyone had been pretty much sworn to secrecy not to tell him. Even Felicity agreed that we shouldn't tell her brother, knowing how he felt about the drinking of human blood, even though I technically wasn't human, and the blood was, err… _donated_.

As Nessie prepared to bite me I took a few deep breaths. I knew if she saw me scream, or flinch, or show my discomfort in any way this would only be harder for her, and I didn't want that. I knew it was going to hurt but I needed to be strong for her; just as she was trying to be for me.

As her teeth locked down on my neck I tried to relax as much as I could, and not think about the pain. Instead I tried to concentrate on the sound of Nessie's heartbeats, and not my own, which were slowing, as they normally did when she drank. As she kept going and things started to get fuzzy, I fought not to sink down into the darkness that always started to take over. I tried to focus on the sounds of Nessie swallowing. With each gulp I thought of how it was helping her... us. That's why we were doing this, to make her better, so we could stay together. She kept drinking, more and more. I was struggling to remain conscious when, suddenly... she stopped.

It wasn't the tearing and shredding of my skin that normally happened when Emmett and Rosalie ripped her teeth off of me. This was different. She actually unclenched her jaw, opened her mouth, and backed away on her own.

Oh no! Was something wrong? Has something happened with all these transfusions I'd been receiving? Did my blood no longer taste good to her?

Wait. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

"Nessie are you okay?" I asked, lifting my head as much as I could to look her in the eyes.

Woe. I had to lie back down. The room was spinning.

She hesitated for a moment. As the dizziness subsided I saw her eyebrows scrunch together the way they did when she was thinking hard about something. Crap. What was wrong? If she didn't tell me soon I was going to lose it.

"I think... I think I finally have had enough Jacob. I don't want anymore," she smiled.

What? Does this mean what I think it does? Had we really done it? Looking at the broadening smile on her face, I think we had. I could finally relax; we could be together again now. Everything would be okay.

Or would it?

I know she hadn't drank as much as she had in the past, but I felt so weak, more than I did normally when she drank from me. Closing my eyes, I was suddenly dizzy again, but I could hear the wind whizzing around me, as Carlisle rushed over and started an IV to transfuse blood back into my system. While she hadn't taken that much I was probably still down a few pints.

Thank goodness for Carlisle… I would be back to normal soon.

I was trying to focus on Nessie. On her sweet smile, but everything was blurry. I couldn't focus. Everything was spinning and I was sinking.

Wow! I was never this bad before.

"Jacob?" I heard Nessie's voice ask, but it sounded so far away and then everything went black.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"Jacob?" Did he fall asleep?

"Jake." I called again but still got no response. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

"JACOB!" I screamed, grabbing his shirt and started to shake it and him. Why wouldn't he wake up? What the hell was going on?

"Nessie, please try to calm down, I need to get in there and see what's wrong," my grandfather quietly but quickly ushered me aside.

Suddenly I felt two cold arms wrap around me as my father appeared, dragging me away from Carlisle's office, and Jake, and into the hallway.

"Daddy," I cried into his shoulder, "what's wrong with him? Why isn't he waking up... I didn't take that much, did I?" It wasn't possible. I'd drunk much more on previous attempts. What was wrong?

That's when my father told me what everyone had been keeping from me - that my Jacob had been getting weaker and weaker, each week. Every time I drained him.

The office door was still open, so I could see my grandfather whizzing around at lightning speed, hooking up multiple IV's into Jacob's motionless body, trying to get as much blood into him as quickly as possible. Straining my ears as much as I could, I didn't hear a heartbeat.

"Why wouldn't you tell me this? How could you? I killed him! How could you let me kill him?" I screamed and wept. "I love him, he's my soulmate. How could you let me kill my soulmate?" Even as I said it I knew it wasn't true. They didn't _let_ me kill him. I'd killed him. I'd done this. Jacob's death was my fault!

That's when I looked over at the bed. My grandfather, aunt, and uncle were still working on him. They were performing CPR, Emmett was pumping his chest, while my grandfather was breathing into his mouth, and Rosalie was filling a syringe with something. But with all of this Jacob just laid there. Unconscious. Unmoving. Of course he was no longer capable of movement. He was dead and it was my fault.

"No sweetheart, he's not. Not yet, anyway," my father corrected me. "I can still hear him. It's faint but he's thinking of you. Of how much he loves you. He's still fighting."

What? "He's not gone? Then what do we do? What's wrong with him, there must be something we can do," I frantically screamed.

"The problem could be with the donated blood," my father theorized. "Jacob thought of something just before he passed out. He was worried when you stopped drinking from him that his blood might not taste as good from all of the transfusions."

"Of course," my grandfather gasped. It seemed like he was admonishing himself at the same time. "We've been giving him human blood. It wouldn't have the same healing properties as his own Quileute, Wolf blood."

Did that mean the replacement blood was turning him human? I looked to my father but he only shrugged, the concern plastered onto his face.

A human couldn't handle this. Only a Wolf would survive being drained.

That's it! I knew what we had to do. But was there enough time?

"As long as we continue to pump his heart and breath for him, there might still be enough Quileute healing properties in his body to keep him going for awhile, but I'm not sure how long," my father told me.

"Grandpa, do you think he'll survive, if you keep giving him CPR, for a couple of hours?" I knew how much of a long shot it was, but I had to try.

"I don't know. Why? What did you have in mind?" he asked me while switching out an empty blood bag.

But there was no time to answer. My father could explain for me. Right now every second counted. As I ran from the house I got out my phone and dialed the one person who actually might be able to save my Jacob.

"Jake needs you now, run towards my grandparent's house as fast as you can. Tell me where you are, I'm jumping in my car to meet you. He's almost gone!" I screamed into the phone, not bothering to explain. Wolves were built for speed, but if she was somewhere public, and couldn't phase, driving would be faster.

Luckily Leah wasn't two hours away, at her house, or school, or work, like I feared, she was with Nahuel, just a few miles away. They weren't anywhere I could pick her up, but she phased and ran the whole way. Less than eight minutes later, Leah burst through the forest and appeared in the backyard. As soon as she phased back I grabbed her hand and dragged her up to the room Jacob was in.

"CRAP! What happened?" she gasped, taking in the scene. She yanked her hand out of my grasp, and rushed to Jake's near lifeless side. His chest was still being pumped by Carlisle, while Edward now blew into his mouth, and Rose changed more blood bags.

"We need your help," I explained to her before turning to my grandfather. "Can we do a transfusion with Leah's blood?" That would work, right? I had no idea what her blood type was, but the anti-venom, meant for Jake, that I'd given her, after Nahuel bit her, had worked. Wouldn't that mean that a transfusion from her to Jake would work as well? I hoped it would, because there was no time for anything else.

Not even bothering to respond to me, he quickly had Leah lay down next to Jacob while he inserted a needle into her arm and then connected it to one of the tubes that were already in Jacob's, as Edward took over chest compressions, and Rosalie pulled out the other lines. I watched breathlessly as her blood flowed into my soulmate.

_Please, please, please let this work_, I chanted over and over to myself.

I was hopeful at first, but as the minutes passed,and he didn't wake that hope slowly started to fade away.

* * *

**A.N.** \- So... Things were getting interesting for our two lovebirds, but is this the end? What do you think? Do you hate me? Please review - good or bad, just let me know.

Sorry to leave things on a cliffhanger, but you'll have to wait till next week to read what happens to Jake.

Also i know it took me forever to post this chapter,... over a WEEK! But i had a good reason. A new idea for a newer, better Prologue to this already too long story popped into my head and i couldn't work on editing this chapter until i got the prologue out of my head and onto my computer.

So I typed it up and added it to the front of Chapter One of **Sunrise** and **Orbiting Satellites – Book 1** if you are interested in reading it. There's also a few added paragraphs in there, 'cause I couldn't help myself.

Sunrise - **s/12326592/1/Sunrise**

Orbiting Satellites – Book 1 - **s/13204890/1/Orbiting-Satellites-Bk-1-Sunrise-revised**

As always - thanks for reading.


	26. A Birthday, a Funeral, and a Wedding

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Six**

**A Birthday, a Funeral, and a Wedding**

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Renesmee's Point of View

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Felicity's first birthday should have been a happy occasion; a time for celebration. But someone who should have been here wouldn't be.

"Felicity," Alice called to my daughter.

"What is it Alice?" she sighed from her seat next to me at the kitchen table.

Couldn't we make it through one lunch without being interrupted by her with some new scheme to cheer us up?

"We have to plan your birthday party, silly," my aunt replied to my daughter.

"No thank you," she told Alice, much nicer than I would have been able to. "There is no way that I'm up for that. I'm sorry. But I'm just not in the mood for a party."

"Of course you are. A party is exactly what you need. Something to lift your spirits. You've been so sad for months now, and I refuse to let this behavior continue. You can't keep going on like this. I know what happened is upsetting, but you need to try to move on."

How could Alice be so flippant? Didn't she realize the pain and the loss my daughter was suffering from? The loss we were all suffering?

"Listen missy," my aunt continued when Felicity got up and started to walk away, "you're going to sit down, at this table with me, and plan your birthday party, because you deserve it. You only get two birthdays with the way you age and I'm going to make the most of the ones you have. Do you hear me?" How was someone so small so scary when they wanted to be? "So sit that little butt of yours back down," she said while pulling my daughter back to the table, "and start telling me what your favorite colors are. I'm going to plan the most amazing, most wonderful, specialist birthday party ever." Her arms were stretched out as far as they would go, but knowing her that was not nearly far enough. "Because you, my grandniece, deserve it," she chirped and ordered at the same time.

I think that was my cue to step in and say something.

"Look Alice, if my daughter doesn't want to have a birthday party this year then she shouldn't have to have one." Seeing the death glare she gave me I started backtracking a little. "Maybe you could reschedule and have it in a few months, if she's feeling more up to it then."

I don't think my aunt even heard that part. I mean I know _technically_ she had to have heard me, with her super Vampire hearing, but she just chose to completely ignore me, I guess. Two seconds later she had my daughter sitting back down in her chair, while she opened her ridiculously large party planning binder and started sketching out ideas. I was a little worried about Felicity but it didn't look like I was going to be able to do anything. Once Alice got into party planning mode there was no stopping her. And plus Felicity had that look in her eye that told me that she'd already resigned herself to the task at hand.

"I'm sorry," I silently mouthed to her. I probably should have put up a little more of a fight with my aunt and stuck up for my daughter more, but I just didn't have the energy. I was equally depressed right now, myself. "Okay, let's start off with the guest list." Alice took out a piece of paper that had four columns of names on the front and three on the back. How many guests was she expecting? "I already invited a ton of people but want to know who you want coming to your birthday party?"

"What does it matter," she replied, slumping her head down onto the table. "The one person I want here isn't going to be. So what does it matter?"

That was my cue to leave. I couldn't listen to this anymore. I wanted to just curl up into a ball somewhere and cry. But I knew I couldn't do that.

Instead I got up, walked out of the kitchen, and called, "Bella?" I knew she would be able to hear me anywhere in the house.

Felicity was taking this so hard. I was dealing with it as best I could, but I was wondering, looking for answers. Seeing if there was anything I could offer her, to help her through this time. I know eventually the pain will ease for her. But that was the thing - eventually wasn't right now. And right now she needed my help.

"In the library," I heard her reply.

Of course. I should have known. Where else would she be?

I needed to talk to somebody. I needed some advice and hers was the closest experience that I could think of right now.

"Bella... um, Mom, can I ask you something?" I was getting pretty comfortable calling my family by their first names. I did it most of the time now, but I just wanted my mom right now - even if she did look like she was five years younger than me.

"Of course sweetheart what's it?" she asked raising her eyes up from the book she was reading. I didn't even need to look to know which one it was. Over the years I came to realize how she seemed to reread Wuthering Heights whenever she was anxious, or upset, or sad. And currently we were all sad. This was just her way of dealing with the grief. What was it about the book that comforted her though?

I wasn't sure how to ask what I wanted to. "How did you deal -" my voice trailed off.

"Honey, my situation wasn't the same exactly as this," she said, not even waiting for me to finish my question. I knew this was hard for her as well. She loved him too. "When we all left for France we knew we were leaving you here, but you weren't alone. You had Jake and David and -"

"No," I cut her off, "not that time. I meant when Dad left you, when you were human." That was, I think, the closest experience that I could think of, of anyone in my family having an experience similar to what was going on now.

"Hmmm. Well as you know," she started twisting her fingers absent-mindedly, "those memories aren't very clear but as best as I can remember I didn't actually deal with it very well at all. I just stopped," she sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea. I know that time of her life was painful. I shouldn't have dredged up her old heartbreak. I would have told her it wasn't necessary to relive her past pain now, if I had another option. That wasn't what I'd meant to do. But I was too weak, so I just waited. "I barely ate, or slept. I stopped talking to my friends," my mother continued after she'd recomposed herself. "I had nightmares every night. I tried not to think about Edward, it hurt too much. I wouldn't say his name, I didn't even let myself even think it. I was pretty messed up.

"Renesmee listen to me, you need to be strong for your daughter now. She's going to look to you to help her get through this. Not just during on her birthday, but the next day, and the next after that. If she sees you upset she's not going to be able to feel like she can move on or be happy herself."

I guess my mother had a point. I needed to try to at least pretend to be... maybe be not exactly happy, but composed. Not the angry mess I had been. And that's just what I planned to do, starting now, through her party next week, and beyond.

It was her very first birthday and Alice was right; she deserved to have it be as special as she was.

With all of the planning and preparations that needed to be done the week seemed to fly by. Everybody Felicity asked, or those Alice invited, had arrived, or at least Alice _saw_ that they would be here by this evening, with only one very notable exception, but we already knew he would be here.

I couldn't believe David was doing this. It was his sister's very first birthday. And he refused to come!

So what if Alice had invited all of the family's Vampire friends? Why did Dave have to take such offense to having to be in the same house as them? Sure they drank human blood, but they were our fiends and agreed not to hunt in the state. Carlisle respected human life more than any Vampire I knew and he got along with them. Felicity didn't have a problem with them either. The two of them have always been so close but ever since he moved to La Push, it's like he'd forgotten about her, never mind the rest of us.

Well that and the fact that he refused to leave his Imprint, Janet. I understood why he didn't want to bring a human here with all of the red-eyed Vampires around. He could at least have come back for Felicity's birthday if not the party. I was so angry… and sad. I missed my son.

"Come on darling. I think Alice is about to come looking for us, if we don't get to her house to help her set up," Bella said while grabbing my hand and lead me down the stairs.

"Okay you two slow pokes, let's finish setting up for Felicity's party, tomorrow." Alice's voice had gone super-sonic, threatening to blow out my eardrums, not that she noticed as she bounced merrily up and down.

"Really Alice? It's going to take us that long to set this room up for Felicity that we need to start this early?" I questioned her once my ears had stopped ringing. "You do realize she still doesn't want a party. Right?"

"What are you talking about Nessie? It's not just this room," she said gesturing to the living room, "but the kitchen, dining room, music room, and backyard."

Yikes!

Even though Alice had started planning everything weeks ago, against my daughter's objections, it seemed that every time Felicity voiced her opinion not to have a party Alice just kept adding things, making it bigger and bigger and bigger.

Since there seemed to be no stopping her, Alice was at least listening to my daughter for the color theme, and _some_ of her choices for music and food. Originally Alice had turned her nose up to my daughter's green and purple requests for her color choices. Even though they were Felicity's favorites, I was worried those colors were going to look tacky together, like the Joker from Batman, or something, but Alice made them work in a way that was both classy and elegant, just like my daughter. She'd designed everything around a floral theme.

The purple lilacs and hydrangeas were being hung and placed everywhere, on every available surface and empty inch of wall, then long leafy, vines were woven throughout, for green accents, here and there.

By the time it was dark outside, after hours of work, everything was finally finished and the house, which normally looked beautiful in Esme's standard creams and minimalist modern furniture, was transformed into a kind of botanical temple. The soft spilling creams of the tablecloths and sheer curtains billowed from the ceiling, gave a soft and ethereal cloud-like appearance to everything. It was almost magical.

After everything was finally set up the only thing left to do was wrap the gifts from Jake and me. Together we'd carved a chess set for Felicity months ago, beginning it soon after she was born. It was similar to the ones Jake made for me and David, but this time I felt confident enough to help him. Each piece took days to carve and then they also needed to be sanded, stained and sealed.

While neither of us was able to work on it when Jake was in La Push with David we'd recommitted ourselves to the project and finished a lot of it in record time, the following weeks. Jake especially, doing three times as much as me. I know some of it was because he had been carving years longer than me, but I don't think that was the only reason.

Between Jake's rush to try and finish Felicity's gift and him Alpha ordering Leah to phase so he could get her back together with Nahuel, it was like he knew how badly things could go with my _treatments_. Of course he did. He knew it... I... my drinking his blood, could be potentially deadly to him. I hadn't realized, at the time, how much he'd believed, or had prepared for the possibility that he might not have made it.

The chess set Jacob carved for me was made up of members of the Cullen family and the Wolves; David's had been of himself as he matured from a baby to an adult on one side, and his favorite comic book characters on the other. We tried to make Felicity's equally meaningful to her – the Cullen's, on one side (of course), with the Wolves as the pawns, and since she loved music, piano especially, some of her favorite composers were on the other – Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Strauss, Chopin, Stravinsky and a few others, with different musical instruments as the pawns.

"Which color wrapping paper should we use?" Looking around the finished basement in Alice's house I was a little, okay a LOT, overwhelmed. I thought her closet was impressive, but this… Gift wrapping stores had less inventory.

"Well, purple is her favorite color," Bella suggested, as she pulled down a few rolls in that color. "You can't go wrong with that."

"Yeah, but there is so much purple already with the flowers, and napkins, and chair covers. And Alice is already having us all dress up in different shades of Lavenders and Plums. Isn't that a bit much? I don't think we need anymore."

"Why not use this one and add a purple bow?" He'd grabbed a beautifully embossed ivory roll of wrapping paper from the huge pile.

What would I ever do without him? "Jake, that's perfect!" Or Leah? Thanks to her I didn't have to find out. It was touch and go for awhile, and my grandfather was concerned that we could have lost both of them but in the end her blood had revived my Jacob. It took so much though. When she arrived, Carlisle, and my aunt and uncle, had only transfused half of the blood I had taken back into his body. The rest came from Leah. She's so much smaller than him; I wasn't exactly sure why, but she insisted we take however much was needed from her. Carlisle did, but that left her down almost fifty-seven percent (a human never would have survived loosing so much). Carlisle had to rush and give her all of the remaining donated blood into her. Since it was only her first transfusion it only took her a week till she was fully recovered, but my grandfather said Jake would need another few weeks.

I told Leah that I was forever in her debt, but she just shrugged it off, saying that now we were even. I didn't understand what she meant, but decided it was wiser to just agree with her.

After Carlisle assured us that Jake was fully recovered, and confirmed that my bloodlust was cured... or ended... or whatever it was, Jake and I... err, rekindled our love life in a way that not only sent Edward running out of the house, and probably the state (sorry Daddy), but in all probability would have made Emmett blush – if he were able to, that is.

"The party's wonderful," Felicity admitted the next night, or at least that was what she said. As much as she tried not to show it, she was still upset that her brother never showed up. All night long my daughter kept glancing at the door, assuming David was miraculously going to appear. But of course he didn't.

There were plenty of other guests though.

When the doorbell rang and our first guest arrived, my heart was thumping in my chest. Alice refused to tell me who was coming, but said it was a mix of my human family and Vampires, but she assured me that she invited only those who would be able to control themselves and not feed on the other guests.

"I'll get it," I called running to the door. Jake was right behind me. Even though he knew I was perfectly safe, Jake was so sweet, refusing to leave my side while the party was going on and red eyed Vampires were in the house (or state). And he made Edward and Bella promise to glue themselves to Felicity's hip. Opening the door I saw that it was the Irish coven.

"Siobhan!" I cried. It had been years since I'd last seen them, not since they came to witness for me against the Volturi.

It looked like it took her half a second to recognize me. "Renesmee?" she questioned back, while looking me up and down. "You've changed so much. I didn't expect you to be so grown. What a beautiful woman you have become."

She practically ripped me out of Jake's arms as her massive arms easily picked me up and twirled me around. It was hard but Jake managed to only let out the smallest of growls. "Thank you," I replied after she put me down. "You look…" now it was my turn to quickly run my eyes over her and the two others in her coven, "exactly the same." I didn't mean to, but a small chuckle escaped my lips. Thankfully they didn't take offence; how could they, it was the truth. They were even wearing many of the same pieces of clothing as they had seven years ago. I guess that shouldn't be that surprising. Their clothes looked like they were the ones they were wearing when they were first changed, decades ago.

Felicity had never met them before, but it looked like she and Maggie were becoming fast friends. Bella went off with them but Edward walked back over to the front door.

A second later the doorbell rang again, and I saw Randall standing in the doorway when my father opened it. I thought Mary would have been with him, but my father just shook his head slightly, and welcomed the nomad into our house. Oh, I guess her and humans weren't a good combination. "Where is the child," he asked before even saying hello.

Assuming he meant me, Jake and I went over to greet him. He was happy to see me and commented on how much I'd grown, just like the Irish coven had.

"They are all probably going to want to do the same," my father whispered to me. "Change is unusual for our kind, and they are all very fond of you." He went on to explain.

He was smiling, so Jake calmed down, but it just make me a little self conscious. But it was only for the afternoon. I could deal with the attention for a few hours.

The four of us started talking about what we all had been up to for the past few years. But when Randall started to mention t some new feeding ground in Atlanta that he was excited about, that was Jake's and my cue to politely extricate ourselves from the conversation.

Besides there was something I wanted to ask Alice

"Will the Amazon's be here soon," I asked after finding her in the kitchen. She was starting to take out the food, so I assumed that meant Charlie and the others from La Push would be here soon.

"They weren't invented," she apologized.

Jake let out a quick breath and smirked, clearly happy about the information, but I wasn't. I was looking forward to seeing Zafrina again.

"I'm sorry," Alice continued. "It's just," she looked so uncomfortable with whatever she was about to say, "they're practically feral." Feral? Yeah, she had a point with that, but what did there less than civilized appearance have to do with helping us celebrate my daughter's birthday? "Nessie they couldn't even take sharing the entire Amazon jungle with you and Jake. How do you think they would handle being here, in these four walls, with no fresh air, no sky, no trees to swing from, no dirt under their feet? The three of them… trapped in a room…. with humans?" Her eyebrows rose, as if to say 'Duh'.

Okay, so I ended up agreeing with her, but that didn't mean that I wasn't disappointed. Not that I had time to dwell on it right away because a short while later the Denali's arrived. Even thought they would visit every few years, it was still nice to see them again. I wanted to talk to them some, but the doorbell rang again.

Next came Charlotte and Peter. I heard Alice mention earlier that Emmett and Carlisle were charged with staying close to them… just in case.

That was it for our Vampire guests. Almost everyone whom Alice had invited came, but there were a few exceptions, Jennifer being the most notable. Huilen and Roberto weren't invited, since Alice saw Roberto going after Billy almost as soon as he rolled into the house. That was the one… two guests I had been told about beforehand, but I thought that Jennifer would have come, at least to see her brother, now that she had a good excuse.

She was a friend. And an ally. Her control was pretty good; better than Jasper's. I was more than a little nervous about the human/Vampire mix even though Alice assured me that she _SAW_ my extended family getting on the plane to return to La Push tomorrow.

Looking at the clock by the TV I saw that it was approaching 7PM. Our human guests would be arriving soon. Alice had staggered everyone's arrival times, giving the Vampires a chance to adjust to the humans scent and not be overwhelmed.

Once they arrived I spent most of the evening, while I wasn't checking on Felicity or watching to make sure Alice was right and no one got thirsty, watching Tanya. After reading about her and my father's past, in his journals I was interested to see how she behaved towards my parents. I didn't see anything going on between them tonight, nor have I ever in the past, not that I was looking back then, but I was still curious to see if I'd missed anything. I mean, I know my father didn't return her feelings, but it looked like she'd actually gotten past her feelings for him, or at least she wasn't choosing to act on them.

It was almost midnight and all of our Wolf (Seth and Leah) and human (Billy, Charlie, Sue and Seth's imprint, Carol) guests –had left hours ago. Since they were in on the supernatural secret, no one questioned the other half of the guests red eyes, but being in the same house with a bunch of Vampires for a few hours during a party was one thing, (and a real test of the control of the others) but having a bunch of humans sleep upstairs from them was really tempting fate. In addition to flying them out, Alice had booked our La Push family some rooms at a five star hotel in town. Their fight home wasn't until tomorrow afternoon, so we would see them again before they left.

Our Vampire friends didn't require sleep so they would be staying, visiting, and partying, at least until morning; some longer, as they wanted to spend time with various members of the family.

"Alright Mom and Dad," Felicity said to Jake and me through a yawn. I could tell she was still sad, but she like me, was trying to put on a cheery mask. "I'm going to bed. Thank you for my gifts. And please thank Alice for the party. She really did a wonderful job, I would thank her myself, but she and Jasper seemed to have disappeared with Peter and Charlotte awhile ago."

Jasper hadn't seen Peter since I was a baby, they never made it to my last birthday party, and I know Jasper was slightly upset that he didn't get to see his friend. They must have gone off somewhere to reconnect.

"Wait a minute young lady," Edward called from across the room, just as Felicity was about to open the front door to head back over to our house. "There is someone who wants to have a word with you," he told her holding out his cell.

_David called your phone? _It was highly unlikely, but I asked my father nevertheless, to which he just shook his head so small I knew Felicity missed it. _You called him. _I sighed. He didn't need to nod.

Damn-it David!

_ Thanks, Dad. _By the look on her face I could tell that the call had made my daughter's night, even if it wasn't at David's initializing.

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Jacob's Point of View

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It was getting dark outside. Nessie and I had been sitting on the couch, at Nessie's aunt's and uncle's house, for the past few hours, playing a game of gin rummy with Rose and Jasper. Alice wanted to play too but that would be kinda pointless. We'd tried before but Alice knew who would win after the first card was dealt, and wasn't shy about broadcasting her emotions, mostly glee, when she inevitably saw that she would win. Instead she stood by and watched. It was something to do to pass the time. For all of us. Nessie and I spent the entire afternoon packing to make the trip back to La Push tomorrow, for Embry and Colleen's wedding, and were now just relaxing before bed.

Not wanting more teens to turn to Wolves, we wanted to keep the Vampire presence down so no one else in the family, except Felicity, was coming with us.

Our daughter had been so strong for so long, when Nessie had broken down, after David and I went to La Push and didn't come back. She'd kept it together that whole time, but finally lost it when David refused to return for her birthday.

I wasn't sure how she was going to react, seeing him tomorrow. We would be there the entire week so we could visit with Billy, and Charlie and Sue as well as her brother. Hopefully this would be enough for her, until our next trip out there.

"Oh." Alice had that far away look to her when she was getting a vision. "I'm so sorry," she said looking over in our direction.

"What's it? What happened?" Nessie asked.

"He died. I didn't realize he was that sick. I would have told you earlier so you could have gone to say goodbye," she apologized.

My father died?

I felt sick. My chest tightened and my stomach started doing flip flops.

I know he hadn't been going great, but Edward assured me he'd gotten his diabetes under control and he was now doing much better. How had things got down hill so quickly? And why had no one told me? David, Kim, and Paul had all promised me that they were taking care of him, and making sure that he was taking care of himself – eating right, checking his blood sugar, getting a little exercise. All the things he was supposed to do. And what about the extra help Edward had arranged for? What the hell happened? Why had they not called to tell me he was so bad.

"Rosalie, I'm so sorry," Alice then said.

Rosalie? Not Billy? Following Alice's eyes I realized Alice was looking past me to Rose, who was sitting next to me on the couch. While I was filled with relief that Billy wasn't dead, I was also confused. Who did Rose know that died? Who did Rose know that was still _alive_.

"Alice, what are you talking about? Emmett is in the other room. He's fine," Rose scoffed at Alice's apparently obvious mistake.

"No, not Emmett. Theodor," Alice corrected her.

"Who?" Nessie asked the question everyone in the room had to be thinking.

"He's my brother, or rather... he was."

"Your brother?" Emmett questioned her. He had rushed to her side, hearing everything, and was now exhibiting his not often seen (non-joking, non-wisecracking) empathetic side, comforting his wife's tearless sobs. Not that she was crying, but doing whatever the Vampire version of crying was. I don't think I've ever seen her show so much emotion; it was weird. I was use to the cold detached Rose. That or the one that sent me running from the room when her and Emmett… ew, nope didn't want to think of that. "I didn't realize anyone else in your family was still alive."

"It was just Theodor left, he must be… have been ninety-three years old by now. I lost track of him over the years. I was the oldest. My other brother, Simon, was in the middle, but he's been gone for awhile now. I heard he died during World War II."

"So I guess that if you had been a boy you would have been named Alvin?" I chuckled, trying to lighten the somber mood.

Rose scowled at me. I guess she wasn't a chipmunks fan.

"Too soon dude," Emmett leered. "Even I knew that."

"What?" She hasn't seen, or even thought of him, in what, like eighty-something years? Maybe I was wrong. "You're not really that upset by this, are you?"

"Of course I am. He was my brother. What's wrong with you, mongrel?" she growled.

She hadn't called me that in years. "Sorry," I said, realizing how upset she was. "It's just that I figured that if you really cared about him you might have-" I stopped when I really looked at her. This apology wasn't going so well. I don't think I've ever seen her looked so hurt and sad. Oops. If I hadn't seen Billy for years, I would still love him and was devastated when I thought it was him who had died. I should probably say something else, apologize more, or better, or something, but before I got the chance Nessie spoke up.

"Did you want to attend the funeral?" she asked Rose.

Rose then looked over to Alice "Will I be able to?"

She spaced out and came back, after less than a second, and let us know that it wouldn't be possible as the current plans stood. The burial was going to take place on a beautiful sunny day, in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Well, we'll just have to go at night and have our own, then," Emmett decided.

Jasper retrieved his laptop from the other room. "When should I book the plane tickets for?"

"Four days from now." Alice replied. "Delta flight, number 314. We'll get there just after sundown. If you hurry we should be able to book ten first class seats, for everyone.

"What about the wedding?" Nessie whispered to me, but then turned to talk to Rose before I could answer. "I absolutely want to be there for you, but Jake and I also need to go to Embry's wedding. It's taken so much for him to get to this point in his life and we need to be there for him. And Felicity needs to see her brother. She can stay in Forks with Charlie and Sue, and spend more time with Dave. Um... Jazz can you book Jake and I a flight for right after the wedding from La Push to Ohio that will get us there on time?"

"Already did, darling," he smirked as he printed us our tickets.

"It will be tight but with a little luck, and maybe some slightly faster than human running between flights you should make it there on time," Alice added.

"Thanks," Nessie beamed and then wrapped her aunt and uncle in a hug before moving over to the couch to wiggle herself in between Rose and Emmett so she could hug her aunt as well.

* * *

Seeing David with Janet during the wedding and then going directly to the funeral for Rose's brother got me thinking on the flight home.

Imprinting and death.

Normally Wolves didn't equate those two things together, but I did.

Yesterday's events took me back to when I first Imprinted on Renesmee. Of course, the circumstances back then were completely different than with Dave and Janet. I wanted to kill Nessie. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm shocked that Edward let me get so close. He would have known what I was thinking back then, even if he was worried about Bella. Nessie was his daughter and I was clearly thinking of going to destroy her.

"I knew you would not," Edward said to me from across the first class aisle, breaking me out of my delirium.

Nessie and I were in the front two seats on the left side of the plane, with Edward and Bella on the right. Rose and Emmett were right behind us and Alice and Jasper behind them.

Carlisle and Esme occupied the last row on the right since some random guy took both seats, in the row, between them and Edward and Bella. Luckily he'd fallen asleep almost as soon as the plane took off, so we were free to talk without having to worry about what he might overhear.

The only people we did have to be careful talking around were the flight attendants and they were busy serving food to the passengers in the back of the plane. Apparently one of them was suppose to remain in first class the entire flight but Carlisle had said something to her and she took off to help the others after serving us our meals. Everyone then quickly piled theirs in front of me as soon as she was out of eyeshot.

"How could you know that?" I whispered back to Edward.

"I was fairly certain by the time you got to the bottom of the stairs that you had, in fact, Imprinted on Renesmee."

Suddenly everybody's heads shot up. I guess he hadn't shared this particular piece of information with anyone else in the family either.

"And how exactly did you know I Imprinted on Nessie when I hadn't yet?" I hadn't even seen her, not really, I'd refused to look at her at that point, a requirement of Imprinting. Or at least I'd thought.

"Your thoughts are fairly loud Jacob, especially back then, when you thought Bella was dead. But even before that, the entire time you were with her, with us, watching Bella suffer as Nessie was growing inside of her, I could hear the love, the pull, you had towards her. At first, I believed, as you did, that you were being pulled towards Bella, but then once you thought Bella was gone and you still felt the pull, only it was moving downstairs, it confirmed my suspicions and I knew instantly that you were really being drawn to my daughter.

"I'd noticed a similar feeling when I was able to listen to the thoughts of Sam, Paul, Jared, and Quil, previously. The way your subconscious reacted to the pull was similar to how you once described it - being like gravity, that you needed to be near her to stay grounded.

"You were thinking at the time that it was just hatred driving you, but I could see it was something else. Your confusion was understandable, especially considering the amount of sleep deprivation you were under at the time. It would be unreasonable to assume that you would be fully cognizant of your thoughts or reasoning back then.

"But since I don't require sleep and my brain is capable of functioning on many more levels, I had time to think about it while also dealing with saving Bella's life. Believe me, if you were, at any point, a real risk to my daughter, I would have been there with Rosalie, to end you," he sorta growled, but more chuckled.

I probably should have been furious at what he said, but I was actually relieved. The thought that I could have hurt my Angel back then had terrified me, and was the cause of more than one sleepless night.

"Your memory of that day is particularly clear Jacob." Edward was now the one that seemed shocked, for some reason. He must have been seeing the replay, in my mind that I was currently watching, trying to remember any details of him noticing my Imprinting that I'd missed.

"Yeah, well it was a big day for me. Imprinting on this perfect Angel was pretty important, you know," I said as I squeezed Nessie's arm.

"I don't know, Jacob. I've seen you recall that day many times before, and the days leading up to it as well, just as you're doing now. They were pretty fuzzy memories to begin with and had been degrading over the years." I started to growl, before he continued. "Like I said, you were so sleep deprived back then, and human memories aren't that good to begin with.

"But _now_ your memory of that day is matching my own. Every detail is in place, perfectly correct and in order." Then he looked to Nessie, before turning back to me. "Has something happened that I'm not aware of?"

"Not that I know of," I shrugged. Why was he making such a big deal of this? I mean I know I was doing better in school. Tests this year had been easier, and I was finally making progress learning French, not that it looked like I would need it anymore, but it wasn't that unusual.

"His memory has been getting better," Nessie disagreed with me. I didn't think so but then she started listing off some of the occasions where she'd witnessed my recall being a little better than normal lately. "And I'm sure you have noticed the improvement to his diction and grammar over the years, but it has become even more pronounced lately."

It has? I hadn't noticed.

"What happened, did you get hit in the head and your brain finally turned on?" Emmett stood up and chuckled over the seat to me.

"Why? You worried you're gonna be the dumb one in the house now?" I teased back. This was weird though. Maybe Nessie was right. I knew my brain had changed when I first became a Wolf, obviously – Wolf telepathy and all. But in other ways as well.

I remember, back when we were still living in Forks, thinking that when I first became a Wolf I could recall precise smells and forest terrains with exacting detail, that I hadn't been able to do as a regular teenage boy, but I hadn't given it much thought since then. Were things really changing in me again?

"If there actually is something going on with your brain, Jacob, I believe we should conduct some tests," the Doc now chimed in.

Tests? I really didn't want a bunch of Vampires poking wires, or electrodes, or whatever they were planning, into my head, at least not anymore than Edward already did. As comfortable as I was with the Cullen's this just seemed a little strange, even for them.

"No, nothing like that, Jacob," Edward snickered. "Carlisle was just thinking of an IQ test to start with."

"Sure, sure. I guess that'll be alright." Why the hell not.

"Wonderful. You will probably want to get a good night's sleep before you take it. I'll download and print an appropriate one tonight as soon as we arrive home. You can take it first thing tomorrow!" the Doc gleefully exclaimed. Why did he have to look so happy about this?

"Err... first thing in the morning, Doc? How about after lunch. Give my brain a chance to wake up first."

"Of course, if you prefer."

The next day, just like planned, as soon as I'd finished eating, Carlisle slid my plate aside and put a stack of papers and a number two pencil in its place.

If I'd known how long and boring the test was gonna be I would have declined. But I was an hour in and only had two sections left.

It was the most tedious thing I've done in a long time. Over one and a half hours of just sitting there filling in little circles. Really, they couldn't come with some sort of a Wii or Xbox version of an IQ test?

Finally when I finished I handed the test to Carlisle, who had lingered nearby the entire time. Not oppressively on top of me, but close enough that I knew he was just out of sight.

I hope they all get a good laugh out of this. The more I thought of it the more I'd become convinced that Eddie was wrong and there was no way I was getting smarter. But still, I was a little curious.

"How long before I get to know the results Doc? Do you really think you're going to tell me am a genius or something? Seems pretty late in the game, to me, to suddenly realize I'm actually super smart." Or am going to be, I guess would be more accurate.

"It will take me about fifteen to twenty minutes to calculate the results, Jacob. But I've a feeling, if suddenly your memory has exponentially improved then at your age there certainly is nothing natural about it and there will be no way to predict the extent of the changes or the possible outcome -" he trailed off, not finishing the thought. "To that point I surmise it's more supernatural, something to do with your Shape-Shifter heritage that's at work here."

"Sure, sure."

They were probably wrong. They had to be. If they were right, you'd think Sam would have told me, since he was the first to phase, that after a certain number of years of being a Wolf, his memory started improving.

Edward walked into the kitchen, and opened the frig. He emerged will all of the ingredients to make pasta. He either had heard my stomach rumble or heard me thinking of food. "Lasagna," he corrected, before returning to the subject at hand, "It probably didn't happen for him."

I'm going to have to get used to him being in my head, all over again. I'd gotten lax guarding my thoughts during the year and a half he was gone.

At least we were not living in the same house anymore. There'd been some musical chairs going on with the bedrooms. Nessie and I had taken over Edward and Bella's old room when they were in France and we added Felicity to our family, so when they moved back they moved into the guest room at Carlisle and Esme's. It was the one Nahuel had been staying in, and he in turn was now staying in David's old room, since my son moved to La Push. If he, or Jennifer, or Huilen ever move back we were going to have add some additions onto one, or more, of the houses.

Wait. What did Edward just say? "What do you mean," I asked him out loud.

"You might be the only one who is experiencing a boost to your memory, since your Imprinting on Nessie was different than the other Wolves." Why were people always thinking my Imprinting was so different? He ignored my fuming thoughts and kept going. "There may even be other changes you may someday experience... possibly,"

"Why do you think that?" I wanted an answer. Seriously, why is everyone always thinking that my Imprint was different? I love Nessie just as much as any other Wolf loves their Imprints, possibly more. It wasn't some sort of platonic guardianship, like a few people first thought it might be. We have a true, romantic love connection, a normal Imprinting. What makes it so different from everyone else's?

"Every other Wolf Imprinted on someone from the Quileute or Makah Tribe, for starters," Edward replied as he started browning the ground beef. "Renesmee is barely related by marriage, so that doesn't count."

"Excuse me?" What was he talking about? He knew I never married his daughter. There wasn't some secret Vampire marriage ceremony that I didn't know about, was there?

"No Jacob, that's not what I'm referring to," Edward chuckled, before looking more sullen. "You and my daughter are definitely not married." After regaining his composure he began again, "Charlie's greataunt, Molly Swan, was married to Old Quil, before she died.

"I never met her, but he had very fond memories of her. She seemed like a very kind lady. But I don't think that's enough of a connection for a normal Imprinting to you, Jacob. I believe there's something special about yours. A reason why you Imprinted on a Half-Vampire."

"I Imprinted on her because she's my Soulmate!" Was he trying to say that Nessie and I really didn't belong together? That we were just shoved together by some screwed up Quileute magic for some other reason? That our love wasn't real? That we were being forced together for some other, abet _higher_, reason? The more I thought about it the more pissed I got.

He added some chopped onion, garlic, and parsley to the sauce he'd started. "No Jacob, that's not what I meant, but since you found your Imprint in a Half-Vampire, it's requiring you, and your Wolf _magic_, for lack of a better word, to change to her super-naturalness.

"It's not very often, never really, that a Wolf Imprints on someone who is going to live forever. All previous Wolves who Imprinted eventually gave up their immortality to grow old with their soulmates. That's not going to happen for you. Certain adjustments would need to be made."

"And you think memory improvement is one of these _adjustments_?"

"It seems like a good place to start," he shrugged. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to forget a moment of your life, or yours and Nessie's lives together. In fifty to one hundred years a normal man, if they were still alive, that is, but after all that time, a normal man with a normal memory, would forget.

"Remember the first time you saw my daughter, the days you took her to the beach to play in the water, holding her hand while walking down the street, her first day of college, the first time you..." he turned to get a pan for the lasagna, and took longer than I expected, "kissed her." That explained it. "They are simple memories but they're important, especially after a few decades, let alone a century or two, pass; you'll be glad you remember them. We all," he looked around the room now to each of the Cullen's who had gathered around us, "have lost most of our human memories and would give anything to get them back. You're very lucky if, what I think is happening, is actually happening, Jacob."

"And just what do you think is happening to him?" Bella asked.

He continued to direct his words to me, even though he was answering his wife's question. "Not only are your new memories more permanent, and accurate, but your previous ones, those from last month, last year, ten years ago, twenty even, they seem to be crystallizing in your mind. I can see it happening as you think them. It's very strange. If I'm right you'll never have to worry about forgetting anything. You're very lucky."

I didn't really see that it was that big of a deal to remember things from my past. Well... except for Nessie. As long as I remembered my time with Nessie, that was all I really cared about.

He put the now assembled lasagna in the oven. "Jacob this means you'll never forget your sisters, your mother, Billy, your Pack. You'll carry their memories with you always. None of us have that, just fuzzy human memories, and very few of those."

Hmmm, when he put it that way I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. Sure I was glad I would remember my family and Pack. But that also meant I would remember that they were no longer with me. I know we were not together right now, but soon, someday in the all too close future, it would be more like it is with my mother. They would be gone, dead, like her. Did I want to remember them, if their memories brought me pain? It didn't look like I had a choice regardless.

"I have the results, Jacob," Carlisle said sauntering back into the living room.

"Okay, what's the verdict Doc?"

"I'm afraid you're not a genius... yet. But by the results of this test it looks like Edward is right and you will be soon. Your test results are much more improved than previous scores."

How'd he know that? I've never taken an IQ test before? But then again, they could have been tested me all these years without me knowing it. No one responded. It's not like I said anything out loud, but Edward surely had heard me and just gave me a smirk, letting me know I was right.

Sneaky Vampires.

Excusing myself I went back to my room. The lasagna would need a little while to cook before it was ready and I needed to think, alone.

Once there I saw the shell that Nessie had grabbed from First Beach. Next to it was the one she got in remembrance of our home in Hoodsport, and a third for this one. There was also a rock hidden in back that her parents had brought back from France. She'd labeled each one with the location and a date.

Nessie had gathered these little trinkets for me over the years so that I would have a reminder of all the places we lived. If Edward and Carlisle were right I wouldn't need them but there was no way I would get rid of them. These shells and rocks, seemingly worthless items to anyone else, were more than reminders of my past. They were evidence of Nessie's love, and thus priceless.

* * *

**A.N. **Sorry this chapter was so long but I loved the idea of the chapter title, so I didn't break it up into two, like I originally planned in the original story and then when i went back to edit added even more.

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	27. Well… That Was Unexpected

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**Well… That Was Unexpected**

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Jacob's Point of View

* * *

**Any other version of the story wouldn't result in the same**

No wait. That's not right. Delete, delete, delete.

**Another version of**

Oh, damn-it, I did it again. Delete, delete, delete.

**No other version of the events that took place would lead to**

Argh, why am I having such a problem finishing this? It's my last paper I have to write before I graduate, and I'm stuck. I should have been able to write it in three to four hours. And here I was going on six.

"Hi there handsome," Nessie called from the doorway. I guess she was back from her latest shopping trip. "How's the paper coming?" she asked, before coming over and giving me a kiss.

"Awful," I whined. "I just can't seem to get past this part right here," I said, indicating the section on my laptop, now that she was standing over my shoulder.

"Why don't you take a break? I need to go hunting and could use a partner," her sweet voice cooed in my ear.

That was all she needed to say. I closed my laptop and bolted out the door after her. A distraction would be exactly what I needed. After a few hours of hunting, I could go back and finish my paper. No problem. This would be perfect.

Oh what I wouldn't do for a Vampire brain right now. I just had to write this one _small_ thirty-five page paper. Okay, so it wasn't exactly small, but I only had thirteen pages done and now seem to have writers block. I can't even remember what the theme of the paper was currently. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that I was running after Nessie and might have gotten a little too distracted by the way her butt looked in her jeans. Yum!

It's amazing how over the years it no longer bothered me to see her sucking up blood. I mean I know it wasn't human blood she was drinking, but it still used to gross me out, not that I ever did or said anything to let Nessie know that. She needed to hunt and I was her go to hunting partner. And those thoughts quickly faded anyway; it was what she needed to survive, simple as that.

I loved watching Nessie hunt now, especially since she was back to feeding from elk, and deer, and even the occasional black bear or cougar; whatever we could find in the area that wasn't a Wolf. It made me so happy to see her move. She was so graceful and strong man. I could watch my Angel for hours.

Not wanting to be wasteful, I would often eat some of the meat after she'd drained whatever animal she had caught, today's meal was deer. There wasn't any point in killing two animals when we both could feed from different parts of the same one. So while I gnarled away she got to watch me. I didn't really like eating raw that much but it was only once a week and judging by the smirk currently plastered on her face, I think she found watching me equally as entertaining as I did her. Man, we truly a were the perfect pair.

I kept eating, loving the smile it brought to Nessie's face. Eventually I was full, which was hard to achieve with my high Wolf metabolism. No wonder. Looking down I realized that the deer was little more than a pile of bones now.

Raising my head, my eyes naturally rested on Nessie. She was still smiling. A bird chirped and my gaze shifted. Animal normally didn't come out around Nessie, or any of the Cullens, naturally recognizing Vampires inherent danger. I couldn't locate the bird which meant it probably just flew by, perhaps even sending out a warning call to others about the _danger_ below. Then I noticed the area of the forest we were in - it was really pretty. Maybe before Nessie and I run back to the house, we could hang out here for awhile. It would be nice to just be with her, alone, instead of being in a house full of other people, or Vampires.

Nessie and I missed so many months together. And now that her family was back I just missed being alone with her. Also it would mean I could procrastinating a little longer, before I had to go back to work on my paper. I still hadn't thought of anything else to write about to make my paper the required length.

Quickly I pulled the heat into me, like I'd a thousand times before, to phase back onto two legs.

Woe. This wasn't right. What happened? I felt like I was flying. It actually felt like I was disconnected from my body. I hadn't phased back to my human form. What was going on? Did I somehow get stuck mid-phase? But I felt light as a feather, like I was being carried by the wind. Wait. I was! I was floating... I think. Whatever was happening, I was definitely not on the ground anymore.

What was going on? I was supposed to be standing on two legs right now, but that wasn't what happened. This was really discombobulating. I couldn't tell exactly what was going on.

I wasn't on two legs, or four. I didn't even feel like I was standing at all. I didn't feel the ground beneath my feet.

I once described Imprinting as redefining... no, more like re-finding your gravity. Your soulmate was your new gravity, holding you down, keeping you connected to the earth. When I, and every other Wolf who had Imprinted first laid eyes on their soulmate, it was like your ties to the earth were broken and retied to her. Once I Imprinted I was no longer being held to the earth by gravity, but by Nessie.

Had something happened to Nessie, while I was phasing back?

Where is Nessie, where is my gravity?

I started panicking. Not for me, but for her.

"Jake!" I heard her scream. Thank goodness, she was alive, but where was she?

Looking around the panic rose again. I couldn't see her, not until I looked down. Down? She was huddled over something. Me. She was crouched over my Wolf, which was currently laying on the ground – unmoving.

What was going on? Was I dead? A ghost? But what had killed me? No, I didn't feel dead.

Somehow I needed to get back to her. And me.

"Nessie," I called. She didn't hear me. I tried again. "NESSIE," I screamed as loud as I could. Still nothing. She couldn't hear me. I didn't currently have a body, so sans a mouth, or lungs, or anything to technically make an auditable sound. Screaming wasn't going to work. But I couldn't think of anything else to do so I tried again. I had to try and let her know where I was and that I was okay... sort of.

"Nessie!" She didn't make any motion to acknowledge that she'd heard me.

_Jake, is that you? _I heard someone's voice in my head say. Wait, was that Embry? What was he doing in New Hampshire? He moved back to Washington.

_I am in Washington, _he answered me. _You're in New Hampshire? How is it that we're speaking to each other? You're three thousand miles away. What's going on?_

_Hey Jake, what are you doing back here? We... wait, you're not in Jared's Pack. How come I can hear you?_

Whose voice was that? Was is Collin? I hadn't heard his voice in my head in years, not since I was part of Sam's Pack eight or nine years ago.

_So you're still in Washington too, I take it?_

_Yeah Jake, of course I am. La Push is my home. I never left it. _

Okay, what's going on? And then I realized I was hearing all of the voices from Jared's Pack, all that were currently phased anyway, in addition to Embry's, who was still in my Pack. But how was this possible?

_Jake, dude, it's like those old legends Billy tells around the bonfire, about the Spirit Warriors, leaving their bodies. Except you left your Wolf, _Embry offered.

No way. Not possible. There hasn't been a Spirit Warrior in what? Hundreds or a thousand years? Not since before there was writing, that part of our history was just stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Who knew how much of it was even true.

Oh crap! As I looked down, I knew that this one was. You'd think turning into a giant Wolf would make me believe in the old legends more. I remembered them, all of them, especially now that my memory was crystallizing. But none of them mentioned how to reenter a body. Crap! How was I going to go back in there? Back into my Wolf and then phase back to my human form?

_They say enough Jake, just float back down and jump in, _Embry suggested like it was no big deal.

Yeah, easy for him to say, he wasn't the one who actually had to do it.

_Stop whining and just try._

_Okay, here I go, but if this works, I'm not going to be able to communicate with you anymore. _This is pretty cool though. "_I'll give you a call if it does, and let you know everything's okay. Here goes nothing, _I said, as I attempted to float back down.

It worked and a few seconds later I was back in my Wolf body, much to my relief, as my body remobilized.

"Jake, oh thank goodness you're alive," Nessie screamed, wrapping her arms around my Wolf neck. I gave her cheek a quick lick to let her know I was okay then bobbed my head to let her know to back up a bit so I could phase back. Man I hoped this worked. I didn't want to have a repeat of a few minutes ago and turn into a Spirit Warrior again. Not knowing exactly how I did it the first time I wasn't sure how to not repeat it, again, as strange as that was to think of.

I pictured myself standing on two legs, locked it into my head, before attempting to phase back to my human form.

It worked. I was back on two feet.

"Jake, I was so worried. What happened?" Nessie screamed and hugged me again. She was squeezing me so hard it actually hurt.

"Ow, Nessie, darling. I love you, and am fine, but I won't be for much longer," panic struck her eyes, before I spoke again, "if you don't loosen your grip a bit."

Realization dawned on her and she let up a bit, but didn't completely let me go. I could see why she wouldn't want to. From my viewpoint it had looked like I was dead, she'd probably thought the same thing.

Not breaking out of our embrace I quickly took out my cell phone and texted Embry that everything was okay. I know I'd promised to call, but Nessie was verging on becoming hysterical and I needed to calm her down and assure her I was okay.

I let her cry it out, and after the tears stopped and she took a few deep breaths, Nessie looked a lot better. Once I'd re-reassured my sweetheart of my non-death, we made our way back to the house. Not surprisingly Edward was there to greet us. Of course he was. He probably heard the whole thing; we'd been within his five mile range.

"You heard," I simply acknowledged.

"Yes," the shock was still evident on his face. I knew the feeling. I was still in more than a bit of shock, myself. "Are you all right, Jacob?"

"I think so. How much could you hear?" Was he able to hear just me or...

"I could hear everything, you and Embry, and all of the Wolves, back in Washington. It was remarkable, being connected to everyone so far away. How is this possible?"

He was asking me? How am I supposed to know? No one in the Tribe had been a Spirit Warrior in at least a thousand years. I don't even know how I did it. I didn't know how it worked.

"I think I needed to call Billy." Maybe there's some part of the Tribes legends about this that he'd neglected to tell us over the years. Or something that was written down in a book somewhere, or I don't know... something.

"Sounds good. Come on, it's still early there. I'll make you some cookies while you call him," Nessie offered as she led me into the house. More cookies? She must have been looking for a distraction.

While she baked I called and by the time I got off the phone the cookies were cooling on the counter. Chocolate chip… my favorite. Perfect! I needed some comfort food right about now.

Billy didn't have any more answers than I did. Embry had gone straight to him after I'd sent the text, so my father already had a chance to start going through the Tribes logs when I called, but he hadn't turned anything up. He assured me he would keep looking, but no one knew the Tribes histories better than him. It seems that what happened to me was a first, or at least a first in a very long time.

It wasn't until hours later, after Nessie and I had settled into bed that I remembered that I still had to finish my paper. Argh! Jolting up into a sitting position Ness instantly guessed what had preventing me from falling asleep.

"Do you mind?" I asked, knowing she'd be able to figure out what I was referring to.

She shook her head. "Need any help?"

"Naw, it's not hard, I can do it. Just don't want to," I admitted. Then as to not disturb her, so she could get some sleep, I grabbed my laptop and headed into the living room.

It wasn't until the sun started coming up in the morning that I finally finished.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

The cookies I baked this morning were now cool enough that I could pack them up to ship to Washington for David. Oatmeal raisin was his favorite, and since I was overnighting him that ugly necklace, with everything else I'd gathered, I thought this would be nice to include as well.

"Hey sweetheart," Jake said after coming into the kitchen, kissing my cheek, and (his real goal) distracting me as he stole one of the cookies.

I slapped his hands away before he took another. "Those are for David," I reminded him.

"You're sending all of them to David? Felicity and I don't even get a few?" Jake tried his best to emulate puppy dog eyes. Even though he was a Wolf he didn't quite get the look down. He still looked cute though and I was almost tempted to let him have another one but I needed to mail these now. He'd have to wait.

"Don't worry, there's more in the oven for you." Like I would really only make one batch of cookies. Silly Wolf.

"Honey... um..." Jake hesitated, "why are you sending David _another_ care package? Didn't you just mail one last week? I thought you were trying to cut down to once a month?"

He was right. After seeing my son during Embry's wedding, I started overcompensating for not being there to take care of my son and started sending David boxes and boxes of care packages every week. I would make batches of cookies, buy clothes, comic books, and include pictures of all of his family still in New Hampshire. It got to be so much that soon I was sending a box every day and would freak out when I didn't have enough time to shop and bake to fill a new box each day.

It finally all boiled over when I put a batch of cookies in the oven, then left to run to the store to buy a few more things to send David. I thought I would be back in time, but the Comic book store had just unpacked a new shipment, just as I arrived, and I got carried away looking through the selection. The cookies, still in the oven, were the last thing on my mind, and as I shopped they baked, and baked, and over-baked, and dried out, until they were burnt to a crisp. But I was still at the store, so they continued baking, then at some point, they caught on fire.

No one was home but Emmett heard the smoke detector go off from his house, raced over, and managed to put out the oven fire before it spread. Thankfully it was contained to the stove and hadn't spread to the entire kitchen. Fire is never good, especially for Vampires. It being the only thing that can kill us. After that incident my family sat me down for a talk and made me realize I was taking things too far.

I could see why Jake was concerned now.

"You're right. I did just mail something to David last week, but I thought I'd put these in the box with the rest of the stuff being shipped."

"What stuff?"

"David called yesterday. Janet is in the school play this year and apparently the school's wardrobe department isn't that great so they needed a little help. I gathered a few things no one was using here. I thought it would be nice if all of the families fancy clothes got put to good use instead of sitting in closets forever," I chuckled.

"What are you sending?" He skeptically eyed the large box sitting on the table for the first time.

"Some old hats and jewelry, a few gowns from my aunt's closets, and some old suits from my father's and uncle's that they already wore. Alice would ever let them wear them again anyway. You know she only lets people in this family were things once, normally. You being the only exception because you put up such a fit."

"Sure, sure." He looked relieved. "What play are they doing?"

Oh, he was going to love it. "Beauty and the Beast," I grinned over to him.

"Ha, ha, ha, that's interesting," he chuckled. "So what part is Janet's?"

"I think David said she's Bells understudy."

He found it as amusing as I did, but I could still see a hint of concern in his eyes.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm not going to get carried away again. I promise I won't even send him a box next week, just think of this as next week's box being shipped a few days early."

"You're sure?"

"Of course. Totally fine." I still miss my son, but going overboard again wouldn't bring him home. "How are you doing?" I thought a change of subject was needed. "Has Billy found anything?" David never mentioned any new theories or legends when he called, but that was twenty hours ago. Something could have turned up in the meantime.

"Still nothing," he huffed. "But I'm getting better at controlling it."

That was something, at least. He scared me so much the first time he phased out of his body, or I guess more accurately that he became a _Spirit Warrior_, as he called it. But Jake had been practicing, with me, Bella, and Edward, over the past few weeks and had gotten to the point where he was at least able to control when it happened.

It still scared me a little every time I would see his Wolf body slump down on the ground. My grandfather assured me it was no more dangerous for him than when Jake would go to sleep each night, but it still looked like he was dead. Sure his heart was pumping and he was breathing, but other than that Jake would never move while his mind (or spirit or consciousness or whatever it was) was away.

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**A.N.** Okay, what do you think? Was the Spirit Warrior thing too weird?

Thanks for reading and Please, Please Please review.


	28. Old um, Friends?

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Old... um, Friends?**

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Jacob's Point of View

* * *

_David there you are_, I said in my head, as I realized David's Wolf mind had finally joined with mine. I've been waiting in my Spirit Form for about ten minutes now. I might have been a little bit early.

_Hey Dad, what's going on?_

I didn't really like being like this for too long. It was still very disconcerting, not having a physical body, just kind of floating around everywhere. But it has been a while since I talked to Dave and there were a few things I wanted to discuss.

For one thing Nessie and I were graduating from Dartmouth next week and I wanted to make sure he'd received the plane ticket we'd sent him. There were ten altogether – one for him, Janet, Billy, Charlie, and Sue. Not to mention Rachel, Paul and their three kids. No red eyed Vamps were invited to the graduation so there shouldn't be a reason why he wouldn't come this time.

I was also interested to find out how he was getting on in La Push. I wanted to know if everything was going as well as he claimed over our phone and Skype calls. Billy would also call and Skype every so often; he'd tell me the same story I was hearing from Dave, that everything was going great between him and Dave, and as far as he knew between Dave and Janet, and Dave and Jared and his Pack. But I just wanted to be one hundred percent sure.

I tried searching through Dave's mind to get what I was looking for, but got nothing. It was almost as if I was talking to Jared, or when I used to talk to Sam, Alpha to Alpha. It seemed I could only hear the thoughts he wanted me to hear in this form. Damn! Well that was a bust, but at least I got to talk to my son again.

We spent the next forty, or so minutes, catching up on everything. He got the plane tickets and assured me everyone was planning on coming next week. While we talked I got to see through my sons eyes, and got to _see_ Billy, when Dave went and visited him for me. It was nice to see him through something other than a computer monitor but I was also concerned to see how my father's health was still continuing to decline, since the last time I'd seen him. It wasn't just that his diabetes was catching up with him. He actually looked like an old man now. As much as Edward had helped rein in his diabetes, there was nothing he could do against old age.

After we talked about everything I wanted to, and I was about to float back down into my body, or whatever it was I was doing now, I started to phase back when Dave yelled into my head, _Hey Dad_.

I was... I don't know mid phase, maybe a little less, but still in my Spirit Form enough that I was still able to hear my son. It was difficult but I strained every fiber of my being, fighting off the change, but I was able to make myself stay in my Spirit Form. This was all still new to me, but somehow I managed.

It sounded like Dave's thoughts were urgent. _What's so important Dave that you waited until now to bring it up_?

_I ran into a couple of bloodsuckers around the Cullen's old place. I was just doing some routine patrolling and had wandered by when I picked up their scent. I was going to attack them but they said that they were friends of yours. They claimed to be part of the group that helped save Mom from the Volturi, so I let them go. But they're still in the area and I wanted to make sure that they were telling the truth. _

_When did you first pick up their scent? _This was a change in my son. Was this Jared's influence on him? I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. I mean I didn't want him trying to kill every Vampire he came across, well not the ones the Cullen's counted as friends, at least, but I also didn't want him believing them at their word either.

_It was this morning, if we didn't have this chat planned __for this afternoon__ I would have called you about them right away, but I figured it could wait a few hours. Don't worry. There are a couple Wolves keeping an eye on them for now, making sure they don't do anything sneaky. _

Okay, that made me feel better. At least someone was watching them.

_Why don't you take me through what happened and show me who they were, David. _

_Sure, no problem Dad_. He let me into his mind enough that I could feel the inborn hatred he had for them, but also how he didn't want to kill them if it would upset his mother. (It felt like a one time repayment of debt on Dave's part, for them helping to save his mother's life. If he came across them again, on Quileute land, I don't think he would let them go a second time.) What he showed me was just like he'd said; it started with him on a routine patrol, running in the woods, past some trees that were familiar, jumped the river that divided La Push from the Cullens land, ran a little longer until the Cullen's old house came into view, and then he'd caught their scents. When he approached them I instantly recognized the two Vampires he was talking about, Dracula one and two - Stefan and Vladimir, my least favorite of the ones who had _helped _us.

I wasn't sure if they could be trusted or not. As far as I knew, the only reason that they were on our side back then was because they wanted to get rid of the Volturi. But I was pretty sure that they also wanted to become the new Volturi, or at least their former versions of what they were, when they were the ones in charge, over a thousand years ago.

They were very old and very dangerous.

I passed onto David everything I knew about them, their names, were they were from, the fact that everything that they had told David was _technically_ true but I was still weary of their true intentions and he needed to be on his guard. I wasn't sure Dave should actually trust them or not. He needed to go back and get more information from them.

David agreed to talk to them again and find out why they were here, or there, I guess. He was going to phase back tonight around eight, letting me know more of what was going on. The two Drac's being in La Push got me more than a little worried. The Cullens were not their friends. They wouldn't be stopping by for just a friendly chat. Something was up.

Why exactly were Stefan and Vladimir looking for the Cullen's? Did they need their help? And if so, what for? Were they planning on attacking the Volturi again? Or maybe the Volturi were planning on attacking Stefan and Vladimir. Or the Wolves. Or the Cullen's. Or was it something else entirely? Whatever it was, those two Vampires being in La Push meant danger.

If there was a problem we needed to coordinate with Carlisle and the rest of the Cullen's and maybe even go to Washington.

My mind was reeling from all the possibilities. I spent the next few hours pacing on two feet. I didn't like waiting. Something was off. I could feel it. The tension in my body was too great and I couldn't take it. I needed to phase. It would be easier to deal with if I was on four. And I needed to burn off the extra energy I had. Phasing into my Wolf form and going for a run seemed better and better.

"Jacob, stop that!" Nessie half yelled – half smirked from the front door. "You've been traipsing back and forth so many times you've made a permanent bald spot in the lawn. Esme's going to be pissed."

Looking down I could see she was right. Damn-it! Instead of stopping I just moved and started pacing in a new location on the grass.

"That's not what I meant sweetheart. David's not going to phase for another fifty-two minutes. Why don't you come inside? I'm sure I can give you something much more enjoyable to occupy your mind," Nessie teased as she began walking back into the empty house, her blouse now airborne, floating down, towards my feet.

She didn't have to tell me twice. Before her shirt even hit the ground I'd picked up my beautiful Imprint and was carrying her to our bedroom.

Nessie always knew what I needed. I loved her so much.

Fifty-one minutes later we headed back outside, it was new record for us, and not in a good way. I didn't like having to rush like that, but at least worked through some of my pent up tension. Just as we walked out the door I saw Bella and Edward walking into their house from the woods. They must have gone hunting.

I chuckled as I saw Edward pinch the bridge of his nose, and wince. I guess Bella didn't have her shield up. Sheesh, he really needs to take that stick out of his butt. His daughter and I've been together for years now and we have two grown children together. _Time to get over it and move on Eddie. _

"I'm sure any father would react just the same if they knew the things that went through another man's mind about their daughter."

"Sure, sure. Like all your thoughts about Bella are PG." Edward was now standing next to me.

"Always," Edward lied. He tried not to, but I could see the side of his mouth twitch up into a smirk. Then we both started laughing.

"Isn't it time for you to phase, Jacob?" Bella said, coming over to us, with Nessie. They'd been talking to each other closer to the woods. While I hoped they hadn't heard what Eddie and I said, the possibility was very unlikely, and practically confirmed by the elbow to my ribs and eye roll Bella gave Eddie.

"Ow!" I yelped and rubbed my side, overdramatically exaggerating the pain she'd caused. After she apologized I phased, first into my Wolf form, and then my Spirit one.

Edward gave Nessie and Bella a play by play of everything that Dave told me, not that he could actually see me in my Spirit Form but they all stood next to my abandoned Wolf body and he could hear what I was thinking, nevertheless.

What we learned that night was disturbing, and so unnerving that Edward immediately started mobilizing everyone to make the trip to La Push, before I had even phased back.

Stefan and Vladimir wanted to go after the Volturi. And this time they wanted the Wolves as allies, instead of an army of other Vampires; thinking that they would have a better shot, since the Wolves held no allegiances to any Vampires… or so they thought.

Dave wasn't sure exactly what their plan was, nothing good anyway. Somehow, and I don't know exactly how, they had convinced Dave, and Dave had convinced Jared, and the rest of the Wolves, that Stefan and Vladimir's plan was a good one and they were making arrangements to go to Italy.

_David this is madness. It's a suicide mission. You can't do this. _I continued to try to reason with him while Edward was having Jasper book our plane tickets and everyone else started packing.

Going after the Volturi was stupid and reckless, and Dracula one and two didn't care about the Wolves. They didn't care how many of my brothers would lose their lives trying to go up against the Volturi. Dave didn't know that without Bella's shield they would be useless against Jane and Alec. They would either be numb or be writhing in pain before they even got a chance to fight. Stefan and Vladimir must have been counting on them taking out at least a few of the Volturi before that happened though.

_Why are you even listening to them? You hate Vampires, why would you voluntarily work with them?_

_Why do you think, Dad? They're giving us the opportunity to take out the biggest coven of bloodsuckers on the planet. We exist to kill leeches. Why wouldn't we want to do this? _

_David, putting aside the fact that this is beyond dangerous, the Volturi are not evil, exactly. _Okay so I hated them for trying to kill Nessie when she was a baby, or at least using it as a pretext to get Edward and Alice to join them, but I'd come to realize that they were a necessary evil. As much as I hated to admit it, they kept order in the Vampire world. Without them, Vampires everywhere would be much more of a problem than they already were.

Dave wouldn't listen to me and they were planning to leave tomorrow morning. We needed to get there first and stop them, but Alice couldn't see if we would arrive before their plane took off.

"Try reasoning with David again. You need to talk him out of the idea of going to Italy," Edward shouted to me.

_What do you think I've been doing for the past hour? _I shout/thought back to Edward.

_I'm going and killing those leeches, Dad. Come with us. It'll be fun, doing what we were born to do. _David wasn't listening to me, as usual, and now was actually trying to convince me to join them. Great, this was going perfectly. And did he say that he thought that this trip was going to be fun? More like suicide.

"Tell him you will go, Jacob." Edward shouted up to my general direction again. I don't know why he was shouting, I could hear him just fine.

_What, why? _I asked him, while temporarily blocking my thoughts from my son.

"It will give us the time we need to fly there while he waits for you."

_Alright Dave. But you need to wait for me. I can't be there until tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. _

_Don't bother coming all the way out here, Dad, just to turn around and fly out again. Our flight has a few stopovers along the way. One of them is near you, in New York. Just meet us there. _

"You need to convince him not to leave until you get there." Eddie said. At least he wasn't shouting this time.

_Duh... you think? _He was starting to get on my nerves.

_I don't think that's a good idea. We need to make a plan... come up with a strategy, and contingencies just in case. We can't do that on the plane, not with a bunch of innocent human passengers within earshot. And once we touchdown in Italy it will be too late. I don't mind coming to meet you; I can sleep on the plane. _

Amazingly, after a little more convincing, he eventually agreed to wait for me. Unfortunately that also meant that I and the rest of the Cullen's would have to go and meet him in Washington. NOW! And that meant more Vampires around La Push, and probably more Wolves being turned if we stayed too long.

"Flights are booked," Bella informed me when I walked into Carlisle and Esme's house. "Jasper couldn't get us all on one plane, but with stopovers and transfers we should all get into Washington around the same time."

"Renesmee has your ticket. You'll be on the same plane as Leah. And there is a three hour layover in Ohio but we should still make it to SeaTac airport by 10:42am," Edward added.

A three hour layover? Wasn't there anything else to get us there sooner?

"It's not so bad," Jasper told me, sensing my nerves rising. "Alice and I are flying into Reno, then running the rest of the way. It's a direct flight, so it'll still be dark when we land, but only long enough to enable us to find some sort of shelter from the sun. Can't start sparkling and startle the humans," he smirked. "Alice says we'll get to the Reservation an hour before anyone else. Do you think your son would take issue if we were to approach him. I could tell him that you let us in on his plan and we would like to offer our help defeating the Volturi. We might be able to convince him to call it off, or at the very least learn something that you could use to do the same."

I hadn't told Dave I was bringing the Cullens with me. Seeing Jasper and Alice, without me, would not go over well. "He's most likely see it as a betrayal on my part. He'll think you're there to stop him." Which was true. "Dave might even attack you before you got to speak, if he feels threatened enough." I saw in his mind how passionate he was about this. Talking him out of it wasn't going to be easy. Jasper and Alice ambushing him was the last thing I needed. The Cullens were coming to talk to, and take out Drac one and two (if necessary). Talking to Dave and the other Wolves was my job.

Once we had all made it to Washington we met up at the Cullens former house, then drove to the La Push border. The plan was for me to try and reason with Jared while the Cullens interrogated Drac one and two as to the real reason why they were here. I was supposed to meet Dave at Billy's house before meeting up with Jared and the rest of his Pack. Jared was the Alpha in La Push now and if I could talk him out of going to Italy, make him see reason, the others would have to fallow along. And if I couldn't I had the Cullens on Speed dial.

As soon as the car doors opened I could smell fresh scent trails from Stefan and Vladimir. But their scents went in two different directions. This was wrong. They were joined at the hip last time.

"Do you smell anyone else with them?" I wasn't directing my question to any particular Cullen. It didn't matter, really. "Why did they split up?"

"It's just the two of them. But this is uncharacteristic of them. They normally stay together to guard each other's backs. Either they don't consider the Wolves a real threat or they are up to something," Carlisle answered me. _Or both_, I mentally added. Edward nodded; the only movement from any of the Cullen's who now all had the same stoic, yet confused or troubled, expression on their faces.

Great, now what?

"We split up," Edward answered my internal question, breaking out of his statue-like form. "We'll go this way after Vladimir," he said, gesturing, to the other members of the Cullen clan, then pointing to one scent trail that seemed to head towards the Cullen's old place. "You meet up with your son and the others as planned, but quickly, and convince the Pack to go after Stefan." That made sense. The trail he pointed at for me to follow seemed to head deeper into La Push.

"I'm coming with you," Nessie said to me. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well maybe if she stayed home, nice and safe in New Hampshire, away from all of the danger. But she would never do that. She needed to be here, for her son. Nessie was a fighter. And I loved her for it.

Felicity had agreed to stay home. At first she was a little hesitant, not wanting to be stuck around Nahuel and Leah. "Too much PDA," she'd exclaimed. She was right, those two put Rose and Emmett to shame.

But much to her relief Nahuel and Seth agreed to stay with her, while Leah came with us. The separation was going to be hard on them but I had a feeling I was going to need Leah's help.

A few seconds after the Cullen's had taken off, Leah and I phased and, along with Nessie, we were following the second trail east. I no longer needed to go to Billy's to talk with Dave first. Once a Wolf I could see that Dave, Jared, and another Wolf in his Pack, were already phased and searching for Drac one and two. Even though my son was now a part of Jared's Pack it seemed that I could still communicate with him like this. I wonder why? The other Wolf was a big blind spot to me right now, so it must have been because Dave was my son.

While I was glad that we could still communicate like this I was troubled about what I was currently getting from him. He was worried about something. But what?

_David, what's it_?

_Oh, um… hi Dad_. Guess he hadn't noticed I was here.

_What's wrong? _I asked again.

_Nothing, nothing, _he tried to assure me, but I still got an uneasy feeling, his uneasy feeling.

Was it Janet? _Has something happened to her?_

_No, I just left her a couple hours ago. She has dress rehearsal for the school play. She looks so beautiful in her Belle costume. _I could feel a giant smile unintentionally appear on his face, as he thought about his Imprint. But he still felt something was wrong.

_I don't know what it is. _

I let him in on the fact that I knew he and the others were looking for Stefan and Vladimir. But something else seemed like it was bothering him. He wasn't angry, or rather he wasn't _just_ angry that they weren't where they were supposed to be. He also seemed worried.

_Probably just the situation, I guess,_ he again tried to assure me but the uneasy feeling wouldn't leave either of us.

Whatever it was would have to wait until after we dealt with Stefan and Vladimir.

_Right, so Jared, do you want to let us know what's going on? _

I could tell that everything wasn't as cozy as I'd seen before we'd gotten on the plane but I didn't know what had happened. Even though I could only hear from him what he wanted me to, Alpha to Alpha, I dove into Dave's mind and saw that they'd heard a warning howl to aleart them that something was up, but when they'd phased the two wolves guarding the two Dracs had vanished.

What? Why?

_I don't know exactly. All that we are certain about is that no one has heard from Stefan and Vladimir escorts in over an hour. They didn't check in like they were supposed to, _Dave said, downplaying the seriousness of the situation._ They're MIA._

_You lost them? _Leah growled. I was equally pissed.

_Hey, the Pack's not as big as it use to be. I have a couple Wolves guarding La Push just on the edge of the forest, the two that were watching the Vamps, then there's the three of us. That's it! _He was trying not to lose it but there was an edge to his thoughts. _It isn't like it was eight years ago. We can't be everywhere at once. _

I needed to calm down. He was right. They couldn't be on patrol all the time. They needed time to sleep, and have a life too.

_I see Stefan, he's just up ahead of us. I think he's actually waiting for us, _Dave broke into Jared's and my thoughts.

He showed us his view of the forest he was in, a large rock that had been split down the middle years before I was born, an old twisted tree, and Stefan sitting up in one of its branches. I knew exactly where they were._ We're close to you. Should be there in two. Wait for us. _

In no time the three of us (me, Nessie, and Leah) ran up beside the three of them (Jared, David, and Quil), as they were closing in on Stefan. Dave looked like he as ready to attack. Something more must have happened than losing the Wolves, but I wasn't getting anymore from either Jared or my son. Jared just seemed concerned about his two missing Wolves. I still didn't know exactly what the hell was going on. Neither did he apparently. How could things have gone from planning to attack the Volturi together to getting ready to tear each other to shreds?

"You've been lying to us," Stefan eventually spat. "You've been working with the Volturi the whole time."

_No we haven't. What's he talking about? _I heard Jared think. I knew that was what he wanted to ask, but we were still in Wolf form, so he just shook his head.

Stefan seemed to understand his response but then held up something shiny, seemingly as proof. It was the necklace Bella had worn during our encounter with the Volturi. How did it end up here?

I heard Nessie gasp and saw my son's eyes nearly leap out of his head, but his thoughts were a jumble, frantic, not making any sense. I could feel his panic.

"Where did you get that," David cringed after quickly phasing back, faster than I'd ever seen him do before.

"I ripped it from the neck of the girl who was wearing it, of course," Stefan said as if he was commenting on the color of a beige rug. "Don't worry, I don't think she'll miss it. She was delicious however," he tauntingly added, licking his lips.

David's face went white before he collapsed on the ground.

Oh crap, Janet must have had the necklace!

How did this happen? How did she have it? And how did Drac one and two even get anywhere near her? She wasn't anywhere La Push. Janet lived on the Makah Res.

Damn-it! Stefan and Vladimir must have killed their Wolf escorts. But which Wolves were watching them? Who did we lose?

Jared heard me and quickly focused on the two Wolves that had been _guarding_ the Vamps. Brady and Scott. Scott was Collin's younger brother, who had just recently phased after Nessie was in La Push recovering from Felicity's birth.

That was stupid of Jared. What was he thinking having a newbie like Scott be one of the Wolves to guard Stefan and Vladimir? He didn't have the experience necessary to handle those two bloodsuckers.

Of course Jared thought they were allies with the two Dracs and had let down his guard.

Before I knew it Quil pounced on Stefan. Less than a half second later Jared, Leah, and I joined the fight.

David didn't help us, he hadn't moved from his slump in the ground. His heart wasn't into it anymore. His heart was gone, with Janet. Nessie stayed out of the fight too, attempting to comfort our son. We didn't need their help, anyway. Four to one was more than enough.

Stephan was quickly shredded and Jared started the fire while Quil and Leah started gathering the pieces to throw in.

"David, I'm so sorry -" Jared started after we all phased back.

"How did this happen?" I screamed cutting him off. His stupidity was going to kill my son.

"I don't know. Brady and Scott were watching them. But after their howl they must have phased back to human," more likely they were instantly killed by the two older, stronger, more experienced, and deadly Vamps, "because I never saw Vladimir or Stefan attack them, or go after Janet, or anything. I thought we were on the same side. That we could trust them. They helped save Renesmee before. I didn't think -"

"That's right. You didn't think," I spat.

Nessie was hugging our sobbing son, but lifted her head enough to meet my eyes; so I could see the warning look she was throwing me. "Jake, don't be so hard on him. This wasn't his fault. It's no one's but Vladimir and Stefan's. Stefan is gone and Vladimir soon will be too if I know my father and the rest of my family. We need to deal with the present situation."

She was right. There was no use yelling at Jared. There were more important things to deal with. Like how my son was going to get through this. If he could.

A Wolf really couldn't survive without his Imprint. I felt... I don't know how I felt. Dave had only been alive for a year and with Janet gone that was probably going to be it, unless a miracle happened.

I knew that if I lost Nessie I would find some way to end my own life as well. But I just hoped... somehow, David could get past this tragedy.

I don't know how but I would try to help him as best as I could. So would Nessie, so would the rest of the Cullen's, so would the rest of my Pack, and Jared's, and Billy, and Charlie, and Sue, and anyone else I could think of. But first there was something we had to do.

"Jared and Leah why don't you go see about Brady and Scott; finish casing the forest. Find them… or (much more likely) their bodies and then tell their families. We'll handle Janet's family," I said, after we made sure the leech was nothing more than ashes and the fire put out. "Come on David, Nessie, Quil."

"Just go away. Leave me here. I'm -"

"No, David. We have to go to Janet's parents, they deserve an explanation." Of course there was also the chance that Stefan had been lying and Janet was fine, asleep in bed, none the wiser. But judging by Dave's near catatonic state I had a feeling that he could sense the loss of his Imprint through their bond, or I guess the now lack of her pull.

He just responded to my words with a blank stare. Like he didn't understand what I was talking about.

"For why they'll... why they will never see their daughter again," I gently tried to explain.

David nodded slightly and stood up, but moved like a walking corpse. There was no way we could run all the way with him like this. I managed to drag him back to the rental car and we made our way up to the Makah Reservation.

Right away, as we approached Mr. and Mrs. Young's house, it was obvious that they knew there was something wrong. Janet had been gone for awhile, it was dark now. School had been over for hours, she missed dinner, and should probably be getting ready for bed by now.

I didn't need to be inside the house to know, I could hear them from outside. Her parents were making phone calls to friends and family, looking for their daughter, and talking to the local police, giving them a physical description - Native American girl, brown eyes, brown hair, 5'3", approximately one hundred twelve pounds, and so on. All the normal things you do when someone goes missing.

Dave looked like death. Nessie was in the back seat with him, trying desperately to console him. She didn't want to lose her son either. "David, you need to be strong now, just for a little bit longer, for her parents. Please... just try to hold it together for them."

Quil didn't look much better than David. He was preparing himself to have to console Clare, his eleven year old Imprint and Janet's little sister.

I was just taking the key out of the ignition, when my phone rang. Checking the caller ID I saw that it was Eddie. What could he want? I thought briefly that he might be calling with good news. That it had all been a mistake. That they had found Janet, alive and well.

"Edward, have you -"

"_Jacob, is David with you?" _he cut me off, yet spoke so quietly I could barely hear him.

"Yeah, he's right here. What's going on?"

** "**_Listen to me, very carefully. We have a situation. You need to move out of earshot of your son,"_ he continued to whisper into the phone.

"Err, I need to take this, guys, just wait in the car for a minute, please," I told everyone in the car, then quickly got out before anyone could object. I just hoped they stayed put.

"Alright, Edward. What's it?" I asked when I was far enough away. "Stefan's dead, along with Brady, Scott, and -"

_ "Yes, I know. That's why I'm calling. We found Janet," _he cut me off again. _"We followed the scent trail to Vladimir__. I guess he didn't count on our response because he actually taunted me - showing me the tragic events that happened prior to our arrival. They never paid much attention to Bella the morning the Volturi came , all those years ago, and never saw her wearing Aro's gift. Seeing the necklace now made them believe the Pack was in league with the Volturi." _

I needed to be in private for him to tell me this? "Yeah, Stefan pretty much told us the same thing."

"_I'm so sorry, but if it's any comfort at all, please know that Vladimir is no more. We ripped him to pieces. His body will soon be nothing but a pile of ash."_

"Great, Stefan's already is, but that isn't going to bring Janet back."

"_No, you misunderstand me Jacob. We _found_ Janet."_

What? "She's alive?"

"_Not exactly -" _

"What's that suppose to mean?" I hated when he got all cryptic like this.

"_I mean Stefan bit and drank from her -"_

"Yeah, I already know that." I don't have time for this, get to the point.

"_Yes, but she's not dead. Not exactly."_

She's not dead? I wouldn't lose my son! Relief flooded my mind until it sunk in what Edward was trying to tell me. "Oh, she's... changing."

"_I'm afraid so. Carlisle gave her the anti-venom he developed for you, but she'd already lost so much blood, and she's not a Wolf, or related to you in any way. He's _doubtful_ it will work. _

"So what do we do now?"

"_We wait."_ His voice was coarse, unemotional. Devoid of hope. Crap.

"How long?"

"_I'm not certain. When the syringe was inserted into Leah how long did it take before you started to see it work?"_

"I don't know... five, maybe ten seconds. How long has it been for Janet?"

"_Eighteen minutes," _he dryly responded. If it hadn't worked by now it probably wasn't going to.

"What about Brady and Scott? Did you hear any news about them?" There was a chance, however small that they were still alive.

"_I'm sorry, but Vladimir very clearly thought, seemingly for my discomfort, about how he and Stefan killed them. They're gone." _He started telling me what the forest looked like where he saw them go down in Vladimir's mind. "_Jasper and Esme are out now looking for the bodies." _

"Yeah, so is Jared." Damn leeches!

"_We're back at the old house. Why don't you meet us there and we'll discuss our options. I'll leave it to you to break it to David and the Wolves as you see fit. If there is anything I can do, please let me know." _

"Yeah, thanks." I replied before hanging up and called Jared to let him know where to find Brady's and Scott's bodies. Jasper and Esme wouldn't be able to carry them onto the Reservation.

Great! How the hell was I supposed to do this? How was I supposed to tell my son that his soulmate... his Imprint, his reason for being, was currently being transformed into the one thing he hated more than anything else on the planet?

This was going to kill him. Literally. Probably more than him thinking she was dead.

I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to basically hand my son his death sentence. But he already thought she was dead, so he already had one. I knew what I had to do.

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**A.N. ** What do you think?

Please review.


	29. Three Days and Counting

**The Flower Moon**

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**Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Three Days and Counting**

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Renesmee's Point of View

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David was beside himself. Torment was written all over his face. He loved Janet and didn't want to see her die, but he didn't want her to become a Vampire either. I was worried he would try to kill her, and then himself, as soon as we walked through the front door. I saw the look on his face, I knew what that look in his eyes meant, but he wouldn't talk to me or Jake the entire drive.

As soon as he entered Edward's old room, and saw Janet on the bed, screaming and writhing in pain, David seemed to lose his nerve, or have a change of heart, or something. He must have still felt her in there somewhere, through his Imprint bond.

Rushing over to her side he went to grab her hand, but stopped himself before making contact, instead choosing to kneel on the floor beside her. Jake followed and stood behind him, probably in case David changed his mind and attacked. I didn't think he would, not now that he saw her. He loved her. Since my son was a Wolf, he was tall enough even on his knees, that he was at eye level with Janet. Not that she looked back at him. Her eyes were scrunched closed, as if to try and block out some of the agony she was in, but it didn't look like it was doing any good. "How long will she be in this pain," he managed to choke out.

"Approximately three days," Jasper replied.

"That long?" His face fell, even more even more, if that was possible.

Oh, this was too much. I felt so bad for my son, for both of them. Going over to my mother, I lifted my hand and she took it in hers. Squeezing it I felt reassured. We would get through this.

"That's the average. I've heard of the rare occurrence that lasted nearly four, but Bella's was little more than two, though that could be because Edward had given her a large dose of venom directly to her heart," Carlisle answered this time.

"Can she hear me?"

"Most likely, I can only tell you from my own experience, I'm sure the experience is slightly different for everyone. My own change was excruciating but I was able to keep silent through the entire process, in order to remain hidden. When I changed Edward, Esme, Rose, and Emmett they screamed at different volumes off and on for the entire three days. As for Bella, Edward was able to inject her with morphine beforehand and her process was painless. She managed to sleep through the entire thing."

"Why haven't you give Janet any morphine then?" David screamed at my grandfather.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. It would have had to be injected prior to the venom entering her system. I tried with Emmett, but the venom burned off the morphine before it had any chance of working."

"I don't care if it didn't work for him," Dave continued screaming. "Try it again. It could work this time."

"If you wish, but you should prepare yourself that it most likely will have no effect."

"Fine!"

"I don't have any on hand, but will call an old colleague at the Forks Hospital and acquire some right away." He then left, presumably to call and get some.

"David, please, I know you're upset, but yelling at your family, who are only trying to help, is NOT helping," Jacob whispered to our son.

"I know but... I just... I... I just love her so much. What am I going to do?"

"Why don't you calm down? Take a few deep breaths. If Carlisle can do anything for her, he will. In the meantime, why don't you talk to Janet. Let her know you're here for her and that you love her."

"I do love her. I love you Janet," he sobbed, then stranger than strange, actually gave a small chuckle. What? "I've never actually told her that before. I'm never going to get a chance to hear her say it back to me."

"You don't know that. And you have no idea what she thinks."

"She loves you too," my father replied. "But she's in too much pain, I doubt she will be able to respond verbally to anyone until -"

"Can you see her, Alice? When will she... you know-" Jake questioned.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's going to happen. Right now she's fuzzy. Maybe if you both were to go to the other side of the room, away from her," she said gesturing to Jake and Dave, "I'll be able to get a clearer picture."

"What does it feel like?" he asked the room instead of moving., like Jake had.

I know it was stupid but I wished I could have been able to give him an answer. But I knew as much about the process as him. Bella saw my guilt and longing to help, I'd accidently passed it along to her through my gift. She unlocked our hands and for a second I thought she was upset with me, but she just gave me a small smile and went over to sit next to her grandson. He didn't yell or move away, like he might have in the past, but actually rested his head on her shoulder. Wow! Bella seemed as shocked as me. "The Venom is… intense. It's like every inch of you is on fire, but it never dies down, it only increases and intensifies," she explained.

"How do you know..." Edward started to question. His eyes grew wide as he stared at his wife.

"I wouldn't think James' bite would have been a human memory you wanted to hold on to Bella," Jasper quickly replied before my mother could. "I'm guessing some pain you just can't forget," he added.

For some reason she looked relieved. So did Edward. Clearly I was missing something.

I was going to ask who James was when my grandfather came back into the room. "Edward, my colleague is at the hospital with the morphine. I'd prefer to stay and monitor Janet. Would you be able to…"

"Of course I can pick it up," he replied and left the same instant.

"You knew," Bella cryptically said to Jasper as soon as we heard Edward's car drive away. "Of course," she said answering her own question (I think). "You would have felt it with me. How did you not think of it back then or in all the years since?"

"Back then it was easy," Jasper replied. "Everyone was so wrapped up in other things themselves, Renesmee's mere existence, and then Jacob's _obsession_ with her, no one really understood the imprinting yet, and of course Edward was worried about you during your transformation that it got lost among everything else. Once you woke up it didn't seem like you wanted him to know so I just didn't have any reason to think about it. Don't worry, if I haven't slipped yet I'm not likely to," he assured her. "But how long are you planning on keeping this from Edward?"

"It's just one more secret, and it's only for his own sanity. I don't want to upset him."

I really wish someone would tell me what was going on. Everyone else in the room seemed to know, judging by their facial expressions and head nods, and the occasional, "We'll keep it too," "I won't think a word," and an "Oh, that must have been so hard for you," from Esme.

Jake didn't seem to have paid much attention; if he knew, or had even heard, he wasn't letting on, he was too concerned about our son. And David looked like he had missed the entire thing. His attention was completely occupied with Janet. A minute later her body started convulsing. Carlisle assured him it was normal, and she would go through periods of more intense pain, but David gasped, climbed into bed with her, trying to hold down Janet's body with his own. As strong and big as he was he wasn't having that much of an effect.

Twenty minutes later Edward returned with the morphine. It was administered but did nothing. David wept, and refused to leave Janet's side. Esme brought in a chair, which he remained in for the next three days.

At the end of the third day there was no change in Janet's condition. She was still writhing and screaming in pain

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Day Four (Sunday) - Janet's screaming continued.

A funeral had been held for Scott yesterday and Brady's was today. Jared's Pack had attended, but none of us had left the house, with the exception of my grandfather who only left to pick up some medical supplies and food. Alice had arranged for the flowers, caskets, had the wakes catered, and most everything else. Billy had taken care of the formalities with their parents. And while Edward had paid for everything my entire family stayed in the house looking after Janet and David, only leaving to hunt when needed.

"Please, there has to be something you can do," David pleaded to anyone and everyone in the room.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what's going on myself," Carlisle confessed. "It should have been over by now. Or at least lessened."

While Janet was clearly writhing in pain, as everyone in my family, save my mother, had done when they were changed, we all could clearly see that she wasn't changing. In addition to the enhancements to a humans speed, strength, intelligence there is the pure superficial side of things; a human's physical appearance is altered when they become a Vampire; everyone becomes more beautiful looking as all flaws are corrected.

While I hadn't seen it happen personally I remember what my mother looked like just after I was born, and had seen pictures of her as a human. She was good looking back then, but as a Vampire she became gorgeous. All Vampires have that in common - dazzling supermodel looks.

Janet, for all that David loved her, and as pretty as he thought she was, still looked like herself, actually worse since she was currently writhing in pain. And then of course everyone could see that her wounds – the bite mark that started this whole thing, and the other scrapes, cuts, and bruises she'd sustained in the process – none of them were healing, at least not quickly. Carlisle had transfused blood into her system, replacing what Stefan had taken, back when he hoped the anti-venom serum he'd developed would have worked. But that was probably the only reason she was still alive now.

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Day Five (Monday) - David finally broke down from Janet's screams.

"You did this," he screeched. He'd been practically numb this whole time, not leaving her bed once. It seemed like he could feel her pain on some level. Each time her body lurched he sunk a little deeper.

But now he seemed to wake up and while screaming, jumped on Carlisle. "Whatever you did, whatever you injected her with, that's what's doing this to her," he seethed as Jasper and Emmett pulled him off his great-grandfather.

"It's alright. Let him go," Carlisle calmed his sons. "David, I'm afraid you might be right. The venom and anti-venom must be fighting each other inside of her."

"So now what? Help her. Please. There must be something you can do."

Blank stares were all the answer he and everyone else gave and received.

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Day Six (Tuesday) – no change in Janet

"If you want," Alice hesitantly approached David, "I can try to see… something. The only thing is you'd have to move away from her for it to work. You block my visions," she sighed.

"If you think there's any way I'm moving one inch away from her you're crazier than I thought you were," David spat.

I know he was hurting but there was no need for him to be rude. But as much as I wanted to correct my son, I just couldn't. If Janet died from this, he would soon follow and I couldn't be harsh to him on his (possibly) last few days on Earth.

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Day Seven (Wednesday) – still no change

I called Felicity. Janet was still streaming in agony but not changing. She might still die, she probably would, and if she did, as much as it pained me to admit it, David would most likely find some way to follow. She deserved the chance to say goodbye to her brother.

Carlisle, Edward, and Rosalie, the three Cullen's with medical degrees had thrown themselves into trying to find a solution to the problem at hand. They tested their own venom, mixed with more of the Doc's anti-venom, and samples of blood from Claire to find out what was going on and possibly even develop a solution.

I don't know how they had managed that one, but Jake and Bella had gotten in contact with Quil, who was able to sneak Claire away for a few hours so that Carlisle could draw some of her blood - hers being the closest available to Janet's. Unfortunately all of their efforts had been in vain... so far.

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Day Eight (Thursday) – again no change in Janet's condition

Felicity arrived. Neither I nor Jacob could leave our son. Rose and Emmett ended up picking her up from the airport, filling her in on everything that had happened that we'd been unable to say over on the phone.

As soon as she arrived she'd asked for a few minutes alone with her brother. David had refused to leave Janet's side so everyone else cleared the room, save the three of them.

I'm not sure what she said to him, but when she opened the door, after they talked, David seemed to have a change in attitude. At least a little bit.

"Alright, Alice" David sighed over to her, once we all had filed back into the bedroom. "Please look and see if you can tell me when this is going to be... over. How far away exactly do I need to be? Can I... stay in the room at least?"

"How about you just go over into the corner," Alice suggested, as gently as she could. She knew, just as all of us did, how hard this was on him. She was probably going to look and find out when Janet's life was going to be over, how many more days of torment she and David were going to have to endure before she died and David somehow managed to follow by taking his own life.

We all watched as Alice's eyes lost focus, she seemed to be concentrating very hard; her eyes were scrunched, her brow creased, and then finally after a few minutes - longer than it had ever taken her to see anything before, she came out of her daze.

It's not like any of us were expecting her to look happy with the information she found, but she at least stop looking as distraught as she'd been. I wonder what she saw? This waiting was killing me. It looked like I wasn't the only one.

"Well Alice?" David asked rushing back to Janet's side. "What did you see?"

"All I can tell you is that it will all be over in seventy-six hours and thirty-seven minutes. I don't think she's going to die. I'm not sure what's going to happen, she just disappears out of the vision. It's not like she gets turned into a Vampire, then I'd be able to see her perfectly fine, but I don't think she stays human exactly because I can see those too. And there's no way she can become a Wolf, which is why I can't see you and why I can't see her when you're near her, but she's going to turn into another blank spot. Something happens to her, I'm just not sure what."

"Alice, I hate to say this, but she may not make it. Based on your vision, you could be wrong. She may die and she might disappear, like you saw, but it might be because all of the Wolves huddle around her," Edward theorized.

"What about the rest of us?" I asked. "Do we, or at least the rest of the family, look happy that she's alive? Or sad that she doesn't make it?"

"I'm not sure," Alice replied, solemnly. "There's nobody else in the room, at least no one else I can see. I'm sorry, it's very confusing. I'm... I'm sorry I even suggested this. I don't know what, but something is going to happen in three days."

"Well I guess that's enough for now. Three days isn't so long," Carlisle spoke up.

Three days! I could potentially lose my son in THREE DAYS and my grandfather was acting like it was a good sign. What the Hell? But I know he was just trying to comfort my son, in some way.

"You did your best Alice, I'm sure Dave is grateful for that," my grandfather continued, hoping that David probably wouldn't explode or get irrational over Alice's inability to give him a definite answer.

"Yes, Alice. Thank you. I know you tried," he said before sinking back down into the chair next to Janet.

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Day Nine and Ten (Friday and Saturday) - More of the same turmoil for everyone.

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Day Eleven (Sunday) - We finally saw the first hint of relief.

Carlisle had set up an IV to administer fluids (he'd given up on the morphine) on the second day. But I'm not sure if it was doing much either, beyond keeping her hydrated. She hadn't eaten in a week. Carlisle tried inserting a feeding tube but his attempts were unsuccessful.

Now at least something was happening. Her screams were softening, her body jerks were lessening, but she still wasn't changing.

Maybe the anti-venom was finally working.

"Please, please, please," David just mumbled over and over again to himself as he rocked back and forth holding Janet's hand, or waist, or arm. He would just continuously move around her trying to connect with her, like if he touched the right spot she would wake up and come back to him.

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Day Twelve (Monday) – Janet stopped screaming and was still.

Was this the change Alice saw?

If you didn't know she was bitten by a Vampire, one might have thought she was just sleeping.

"I think she is," my father replied to my random thought.

"What?" David asked. I hadn't realized he was even awake. He'd barely slept, or ate, himself these past two weeks. It looked like he'd lost ten pounds. He'd been so quiet, just sitting there, staring at Janet. In addition to not sleeping, he'd barely even said anything, only looking up when Jake talked to Quil every time he called with an update on how Claire, and Janet's parents were doing.

We hadn't told her parents what was going on. We couldn't really tell him about Vampires, but we also didn't want to give them false hope about their daughter, we still weren't sure what was going to happen to her, if she was going to make it through this human, or Vampire, or at all.

While Janet's parents had contacted the police with a missing persons report, Esme had called Charlie, at some point, to let him know what was really going on, so even though there were a bunch of cops out roaming around looking for her, Charlie had them stay clear of our house.

And Jared's Pack was dividing their time consoling Collin and his parents, along with Brady and Janet's families, and visiting us here.

Quil was doing the best he could to calm Claire down, but it was her sister, and they had finally connected once David had Imprinted on Janet. The four of them – Quil, Claire, David, and Janet were this tight little quartet that had become inseparable in the past few months. I hope this wasn't the end of that.

"She's dreaming about being trapped in a blizzard." Edward informed us, while covering her with a blanket. "She's cold," he continued. That's odd. Everyone had said venom felt like you were being burned alive. Why was she cold?

"I'm not sure, if she was finally beginning to change she wouldn't notice the drop in her body temperature."

David went to reach for her hand and confirmed that she did in fact feel cold to him. But that wasn't saying much, humans were normally cold to one hundred-eight degree Wolves and Half-Vampires. Now that she was still he laid down in bed next to her, hugging her to him, hoping his high body temperature could warm hers. Before this I think he'd been too afraid to hurt her. Esme offered to at least bring in another bed or cot for him but he insisted he was fine with the chair. It couldn't have been comfortable to sleep in, but he wouldn't have been comfortable no matter what so long as his Imprint was in pain.

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Day Thirteen and Fourteen (Tuesday and Wednesday) - More of the same from everyone.

Carlisle and the others had yet to find a cure or even an explanation to what was happening to Janet.

Her body temperature had dropped to 94.3 degrees. Other than that here was no change in her from yesterday. Her body remained cold no matter what David tried to do. He laid in bed with her all hours of the day now, hoping to pass on some of his body heat. We cranked up the thermostat in the room, brought in a space heater, and heated blankets, but nothing raised her temperature. She was shivering day and night.

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Day Fifteen (Thursday) - A change, but not one we wanted.

Sometime around 2am, while Jake and I were sleeping in Rose and Emmett's old room we were awakened by the sounds of my son's screams.

What now?

Jacob, and I, and most of my family ran to Edward's old bedroom and were confronted with a scene that none of us were expecting.

"HER HEART'S STOPPED!" David screamed as he pounded on her chest, giving her CPR.

OH NO!

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**A.N. **I know, another cliffhanger. I'm evil like that.

So what do you think? Is this the end of Janet (and David)?

Please review and share your thoughts.


	30. Waiting for the End

**The Flower Moon**

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**Year Eight, Chapter Thirty**

**Waiting for the End**

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Jacob's Point of View

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Carlisle rushed into Edward's old room right after Nessie and I, saw Dave giving Janet CPR, and instantly switched into doctor mode, assessing the situation.

How long had David been performing CPR before he screamed for help?

"Asystole!" the Doc said to Rose, who'd run into the room a second later. She immediately grabbed a syringe off his medial cart, filled it with some sort of medicine, then handed it over to Carlisle.

"Move your hands," Carlisle told my son, but he wouldn't stop pounding on his Imprint's chest.

I went over and pulled my son away. As soon as Dave was clear, he slammed the needle into Janet's heart. The Doc knew what he was doing and didn't need Dave in the way. Dave tried to fight me, but Nessie was right by my side. She must have sent him a message through her gift because after touching his arm for a second he stopped fighting.

Edward came into the room now, having run from the cottage, to help. He immediately jumped in and resumed CPR.

"Stop compressions," Carlisle said after a few minutes.

What was going on? I looked to Edward for answers, but got none, so I tried Nessie. While she hadn't been to medical school, she had read all of the Doc's medical books and probably knew just as much as any doctor… or at the very least a med student.

"The epinephrine," she started to explain in a whispered voice, but when she saw the confused looks on Dave's and my faces, amended her answer, "Adrenaline was injected into Janet's heart. Carlisle is listening to see if her heart is back beating on its own, now that the medicine has had some time to circulate."

"It's beating," Rose said with relief.

Edward looked concerned. "Wait…"

"Tachycardia!" the Doc yelled, then grabbed a big red bag from across the room.

"Her hearts beating too fast, too wild" Nessie explained, while the Doc pulled out a portable defibrillator from the bag. I'd watched enough cop and medical dramas to know what that was.

"CLEAR!" he shouted, before placing the paddles on her chest, attempting to jolt Janet's heart back into rhythm. I watched helplessly as her torso jumped off the table and slammed back down.

Edward resumed chest compressions, while Carlisle blew into her mouth. Dave was starting to shake. I was worried he was going to phase but Nessie and Bella pulled Dave into an embrace and he calmed down… a little. We could all hear the erratic pattern of Janet's heart, but with each pump it got weaker and weaker.

"NO, NO, NO! Don't leave me. Please," David whimpered, collapsing onto the floor.

"Oh, no. Janet!" I then heard Felicity cry as she sleepily stumbled into the room. She must have just woken up,

Cradling Felicity in my arms, I turned her face away so she didn't have to watch. This was disturbing. Too disturbing for my baby.

"CLEAR!" Carlisle yelled again. And again Janet's body jumped. Again... no change.

More chest compressions. More breathing into her mouth.

More sobs from Felicity, more gasps and pleas for someone to do something from Dave. "Janet, darling. My sweet girl. Please come back to me. Please. If I could trade places with you I would. In a heartbeat. Please, please, please," he sobbed over and over again.

"CLEAR!" Carlisle yelled again. I lost count how many times I heard him yell that before shocking her again.

After several more agonizing attempts Carlisle finally managed to get her heart beating steadily on its own again. And this time with each beat it got stronger. Just a little, but enough to give Dave hope.

Thank goodness!

David let out the deepest, loudest gasp and then sigh I've ever heard. It was like his own heart had started again. And in a way it had.

Janet's heart was pumping, and she was breathing, but she still looked horrible. And still looked like she might not make it, but there was no way I was going to say that out loud, not while Dave was in the room.

"Jacob, could I talk to you in private for a moment" Carlisle whispered after pulling me aside. I handed Felicity over to Edward before following the Doc.

Once we were out of the room he began. "Jacob I've had an idea that I would like to try. It's only a theory, but I don't believe there is time to run tests and try it out beforehand. Janet is currently alive but in no way out of the woods, her heart could give out again at any moment." That made sense. It has been two weeks and her fragile human heart couldn't take much more of this.

"Sure, sure. What do you need Doc?"

"David said something tonight that got me thinking. He mentioned that he would change places with Janet if he could. Of course if he was the one that had gotten bit the anti-venom would most likely have worked on him. To that end I was wondering if you would be able to get in contact with Embry and ask him to come here as soon as possible."

"Why?" How was Embry going to help save Janet? And what did it have to do with what my son said?

"He wants to try giving Janet Embry's blood," Edward replied from behind me. When did he get here? But Carlisle already gave Janet a blood transfusion when he'd set up the morphine and saline drip, to replace the blood Stefan drank. Why did she need more? And why Embry's. If the Doc couldn't get any more from the Forks Hospital I was more than willing to donate some.

"You're the wrong blood type Jacob," Edward replied, shaking his head to my thoughts. "Embry's is a match to hers. Carlisle wants to try Wolf blood and see if it will have a more favorable result than human.

"Carlisle believes, and I agree with his hypothesis, that Wolf blood might be the missing piece of the puzzle. It's why none of our tests have worked as of yet. If we're right Stefan's venom has currently been fighting the anti-venom inside of Janet's body. I believe the two have been stuck in a sort of stalemate, neither one gaining the upper hand. It's his hope that if we add even a small amount of Wolf blood to the equation it might be enough to overwhelm the venom."

"This is a long shot, Jacob. I don't want to tell David anything about this," the Doc added. "There is a high probability that since Janet is not Quileute that Embry's blood will have no effect."

_But she's Makah. That's close enough. Right? _Edward didn't nod his head like I hoped; only shrugged. Guess this really was a long shot. Still we had to try. "Okay. You're right. There is no point in getting Dave's hopes up. I'll go call Embry."

I hoped this would work, but I doubted it.

Embry, wasn't exactly happy that I'd called him at 3:38am, but he agreed to come and should be here in about a half hour.

In the mean time Carlisle bandaged Janet's ribs that had been broken when Dave administered CPR. Carlisle lied, telling him it was a normal side effect of the defibrillator's shocks, sparing him from any extra guilt a Wolf would feel whenever their imprint got hurt accidentally by their actions.

While the Doc was doing that Edward implored Alice to try and see if she could get a vision of what might happen if we gave Janet Embry's blood. If it only made Janet sicker (or worse) we'd need to call it off before even starting.

The vision Alice got before led us to belief this would have all been over days ago. She hadn't had one since; of course Dave had refused to leave Janet's side so that wasn't too surprising. But what the hell? Why hadn't she seen something major like Janet's heart stopping tonight, when she had the first one? What good were they if they left out something so important?

Just like last time Dave stayed in the room with Janet, but went as far away as he could, while Ness, Felicity and I went down stairs. A few minutes later Alice called us back into the room and told us what she saw.

Sort of.

A little.

Actually we were left with more questions than answers.

Why in the world would no one be in the room with Janet when she... whatever she was going to do - wake up, die, change – whatever it was, happened. That didn't make sense to anybody, but of course it could have been just that the room was going to be packed with Wolves. That was Edward's theory.

Embry would be here soon, and I doubt would be leaving by tomorrow night; and Quil had already planned to stop by with Claire again. Even if no other Wolves showed up, with them in here with Dave and me, the four of us would definitely obscure Alice's sight. But why would none of the Cullen's be here? This just didn't add up. Something must happen between now and then.

At least we didn't have too much longer to wait to find out. I was anxious, ready for this to be over with, yet terrified, dreading it at the same time. If things didn't turn out right I would lose my son.

Embry arrived just after 4am. The sun was hours from rising and, while he knew this was important wasn't happy about being dragged out of bed so early. He never said a word, but his annoyance was written all over his face.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Carlisle said as he inserted a needle into Embry's arm. It was hooked up to a tube that ran into another needle. This one went into Janet.

Two hours later Carlisle pulled out both needles, but I couldn't see any improvement in Janet.

"How are you feeling," the Doc asked Embry.

"Could go for a sandwich,' he replied as he wobbled getting onto his feet.

"I should think so, your down a few pints. I believe Esme has prepared something in the kitchen. Do you think you can make it or shall I ask her to bring it up?"

Before he could answer, Bella appeared and offered to accompany him to the kitchen.

Once they were gone I tilted my head to the hallway, not wanting Dave to overhear. "How is Janet doing? Any improvement?" I asked the Doc, once the door was closed.

He didn't have to answer. His facial expression said it all.

Damn-it! I really had hoped it would have worked.

"Let's give Embry's blood some time to circulate before losing hope. In time we could see a vast improvement," he smoothly lied to me, before heading back into the makeshift hospital room.

Dave was back in bed with Janet, still trying to keep her warm. He'd sat in the chair while she was hooked up to Embry, but that was just so he wouldn't accidentally pull out the tube. Looking closer I noticed his eyes were closed. He must have finally fallen asleep. Good. He needed it.

So did I. With everything going on I'd barely gotten any sleep last night. The same was true of everyone in the house, at least those who normally slept. It was morning. The sun, a rare sight in Forks, was just making its presence known.

Esme had offered Felicity her old room, so after coaxing Felicity back to bed I tried to do the same with Nessie. I had a feeling we were going to need to be well rested for whatever was going to happen tomorrow.

"Jake, how can you think about sleep at a time like this? I'm too worried and wired," she scoffed.

"Okay, how about a quick hunt then. You haven't drunk enough blood these past two weeks. You must be thirsty." I only got her to agree to go hunting once, and only then with the pretext that we would drain a deer or two to bring back for David. She didn't want to leave her son right now, but I could see her resolve waning. "You're going to need your strength tomorrow. And we'll get some more for David, too. Come on." I held out my hand hoping she would give in and take it.

She did and, after grabbing a few thermoses from the kitchen, I led her out side where we quickly took off to the north. After not too much searching we located a herd of deer. She drank one while I drained another for our son.

"Feel better?" We both were worried about our son, and Janet, but the lack of blood in her diet was impacting her almost as much as her emotional state. Now at least she looked a little healthier. Her cheeks were a bit pinker, her eyes a smidge brighter, she didn't look so sullen. She in no way looked her normal radiant self, of course. I wouldn't expect that, I probably looked pretty bad myself, but at least now I didn't have to worry about her health as well.

"Much."

"Come on, if we leave now, and run quickly, we should be able to get four to five hours of sleep."

I thought she was about to start running home, but then I caught a glint in her eyes. Hmmm! I guess we could make due with a quick catnap.

* * *

Everyone was squished into Edward's old bedroom – all of the Cullen's, Nessie, me, Felicity, Embry, Quil, Claire, and David and Janet.

It was eerily quiet except for Janet's labored breathing, intermittent screams, and muffled yelps. You could probably hear a pin drop, even with the eight Vampires in the room, who didn't need to breathe, and the rest of us who were barely breathing ourselves. Everybody knew what time it was. Whatever was going to happen, to Janet, was going to happen in the next twenty-two minutes.

I didn't think Claire should be here for this, but she practically begged Quil to let her stay, and everyone knew he couldn't say no to her.

Bella's phone suddenly started ringing, breaking, or possibly adding to, the tight tension in the room. Even though she didn't put it on speaker everyone present (except Claire) could hear Charlie on the other end of the line. He called to warn us that some new _hot shot_ cop on the Forks police force was heading over with four of his cronies to look for Janet.

What was going on with Alice's visions lately? The other night she missed Janet's heart stopping. Now this! How could she not have seen this was going to happen?

"Why are you always blaming at me? I'm not omnipotent. I can't see everything, all the time," she whined, scoffing at me. "All of the Wolves are stopping by here, all the time. I'm effectively blind to everything going on in this house. And why would I be checking up on the cops in Forks? We called Charlie to let them know to stay away from here. I didn't think it was necessary to constantly go back and make sure everything was okay there. I thought he could handle this."

"Relax Alice. Nobody is blaming you," Carlisle said as Jasper glared at me for my non-outburst. Personally I was pretty proud of myself for NOT yelling at her. I hadn't even growled. Well… not out loud.

I wasn't really in the mood to be scolded by Jasper right now. I know he was protective of his wife, but this was my son, and I was pissed. So I glared at his wife. So what? I needed to do something. Luckily he could sense how I felt and dropped it.

We had more important things to worry about right now anyway.

"Embry, you should take off. Leave out the back door, go through the woods. You already have a record. If something goes wrong and they find you here…" I didn't need to say more. He took off without another word.

I tried to get Quil and Claire to leave to. This time, thankfully, Claire listened and agreed, especially when I mentioned how she'd get to ride on Quil's Wolf back, like a pony. Nessie use to travel around like that sometimes when she was younger, but Claire was human and more breakable. But now she was almost a teenager. And this was an emergency.

"Call when it's over and I'll bring her back," Quil said to me before they took off.

Now that Alice knew what to look for she easily got a vision of the cop and filled us in on what was going on and what was about to happen downstairs.

Apparently this new hot shot cop, _Officer Dan_, had done a little digging, still looking into Janet's "disappearance" and it had led him here, to the Cullen's old house.

Officer Dan had decided to ignore Charlie's orders and gone off on his own and _investigated_. He'd found out about the morphine and other medical supplies Carlisle had acquired from the Forks Hospital and his imagination had gone wild. He'd come up with a crazy theory that Carlisle was keeping Janet captive here, and was... what? Tying her up? Subduing her with drugs? Something like that?

Apparently, "Yes!" that was exactly what he thought, according to Alice, and we all knew not to bet against Alice on things like this. (At least when her visions didn't involve Wolves and were working.)

It didn't seem like a very thought out hypothesis, on his part, but it's been almost two weeks and the police had searched everywhere else. I guess it was really only a matter of time until someone turned up here.

Everyone started throwing out ideas of what to do about our _guests_. Rose suggested simply pretending we were not home but Jasper worried they'd force the door and come in anyway. My idea to deny them entrance by sheer force… literally us standing in the doorway, not letting them pass, didn't get many votes. Jasper suggested going the legal route and demanding to see a search warrant, but a quick check by Alice revealed them staying on the property until a judge could be found to get one. Alice flew through everyone's suggestions.

Nothing worked.

"I've got an idea," Emmett finally spoke up. He didn't say out loud what it was but when Alice looked to see if his idea would work she gasped, and Edward growled.

"No one will like doing that, but it'll work," she sighed.

We were running out of time. They would be here any minute and without any other ideas we decided to go with it… whatever it was.

"Jacob!" Alice squealed. "You need to come downstairs with the rest of us."

"What? No, I'm saying here with my son, he's gonna need me now more than ever."

"I know Jake, but I saw it. You need to be down there with us. Nessie and Felicity can stay up here with him." I knew she was serious by the way her face was set… stern and all business. "I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen, but that officer is bringing a whole pack of dogs with him, not just four other officers. Real dogs. Those dogs are going to freak out at the sight of all of us," she said gesturing to herself and the rest of the Cullens.

"I checked every possible scenario I could think of and the only one that didn't end in bloodshed was when you were downstairs with us. You seem to, somehow, in some way, get the dogs to calm down with your presence, or something. I don't know, exactly. I couldn't see you, of course, just that a big void in the room was keeping them from attacking. Not that we couldn't defend ourselves, or even get hurt by them, but without you there the dogs go crazy, the officers can't control them, the dogs break off their leashes and attack. Then the officers freak out, start shooting, the bullets bounce off of us, and back into them, There would be blood, lots of it, and we all know what would happen then," she continued her ramblings while eyeing Jasper. "More than one of us would lose control, the others wouldn't be able to stop…" she hesitated, looking between Jasper, Edward, and Esme, "them. That would result in a giant mess for us to clean up. And how would we explain that?" she then chuckled uneasily, unsuccessfully attempting to lighten the mood.

Damn-it! I guess I was going down with them. We didn't need a bunch of dead cops, too. Or new Vampires.

The Cullens started to vacate the room, everyone who was going, except me.

"Jake are you coming? We need to go." Alice chirped from the doorway.

"Yeah just a minute. I'll meet you down there." I would go, but I needed to do something first.

I could hear Alice's voice as she started to explain to everyone some plan she had, but I didn't bother trying to listen. I would just have to wing it. I needed to say goodbye to my son... just in case.

And I wanted to say something to Nessie and Felicity. They would be alone in the room now with Dave and Janet when _it_ happened. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much for the two of them to handle. Nessie was a rock, my rock, and knew she would be fine. But if what was going to happen was that Janet died, and she had to deal with David and Felicity at the same time… no one would be able to, not even her.

"I know," she said to me before I even got the chance. Her eyes bared into mine, while she used her gift to pore all the love she had into my mind. Like I said, she was my rock. _Go, now, do what you need to do, so you can come back quicker_, she added as she practically pushed me out the door.

Edward was speaking when I walked into the living room. "Normally the Forks Police Force only consists of Charlie, and three other guys, but the new guy, Officer Dan, transferred from Seattle. His father was the chief of police there. He's well connected and brought those connections with him."

"This _idiot_ cop, is going to threaten to search the entire house," Alice added. That wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't bringing four other officers and the entire K-9 unit with him.

"If Alice's plan is to work Jasper, Emmett, and I won't be doing a lot after the initial greeting of the officers. It will be up to you and the others to handle things. Just make sure you…" Carlisle started to explain to me, but I never got to hear what it was I was supposed to do, because a second later the doorbell rang and he got up to answer it.

As soon as Carlisle opened the door the police dogs started going crazy. We all knew they would. It would be any animal's natural reaction to the Cullens. Normally, while hunting, forest animals would run away from Vampires, but these dogs were specifically trained to follow the officer's commands and therefore, fought their baser instincts and stayed put… sorta. They weren't attacking or running away, but most were growling, a few whimpered. The cops that were trying to control them, but they were rightly... extremely... agitated. And that was an understatement. Possibly the understatement of the century.

At least Janet's muffled screams couldn't be heard by the officers; they only possessed weak human ears, but the dogs probably could. If the door was closed the soundproofing would have kept everything out, but I'd left it open just a crack, so I could hear what was going on up there. If it got too much for Nessie or my kids I'd rush up to assist. They were my first priority. We'd figure out what to do about the cops later.

"Officers, is there anything I can do for you?"

They seemed to freeze. Eyes popping out of their heads. Dazzled by the intense beauty of the Cullens.

Officer Dan was the first to snap out of it. "We… um, we need to search these premises. I'm going to need the names of everyone here. This place is supposed to be abandoned. Are you trespassing or squatting here?" He seemed to muster up some courage from somewhere because he actually poked Carlisle in the chest when he spoke.

"My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, this is my house," the Doc said opening his arms to indicate the dwelling, "and my family," he continued, gesturing to those of us gathered near the front room.

We all stayed close but tried to look casual about it. Somehow the Cullen's managed to pull it off, except for Edward, he was trying, the cops must have been thinking something weird or crazy, that was making his normally perfect composure crack. Of course as bad as his was I'm sure my own performance was lacking, at best.

"It will be over soon, you can do this," Bella whisper to him, too low for the cops to hear.

The Doc then showed the cops his ID as further proof, but how was that going to work? Everybody in Forks new that Carlisle left almost a decade ago and there's no possible way that the forever twenty-three year old doctor looked like the forty something year-old that must have been listed on his old work ID, or license, or whatever he was showing them.

Then again… maybe it might. Looking closer I saw that the Doc had conveniently placed his thumb over the birth date on his license. That would work as long as no one tried to take it from him.

"Uh huh," the cop said with a snort and wrote something down in his tiny notebook. "We're still going to need to search-" he continued before Janet let out another anguished shriek, this one loud enough for the cops to hear. "What's that? Who's screaming?" he yelled while shoving his way past Carlisle. The other four rushed in behind him as well, with the dogs pulled behind.

Of course Carlisle wouldn't have been moved by the cop's feeble attempt to brush past him, unless the Doc had let him. Which he must have done. But why? These cops were the last people we needed in the house right now. I thought the point was to try to get rid of them. What was Carlisle thinking?

"We're just back in the area on vacation," Carlisle started to explain, seemingly ignoring the sound of Janet's screams, or the cops questions, yet quickly stepping in front of them so they couldn't head upstairs. "We used to live here a number of years ago. We kept the house, and have returned, just to visit some family and friends. Soon after we arrived we came across a young woman who stumbled up to our door, obviously in distress. She collapsed on our doorstep. Since I'm a doctor and she was in no condition to be moved, I took it upon myself to treat the young lady."

"And you didn't feel the need to bring her to a hospital," one of the other cops, his name tag said Hollis, questioned him, while looking around, eyes landing on Rose, "or call the police," they shifted to Esme, "or her family," over to Bella, "to let anyone know what was going on?" moved quickly to Alice, before returning to Rose.

All of the cops were now gathered in the center of the room. Carlisle blocked the stairs and the rest of the Cullens surrounded them. Clearly they could sense the danger they were in, surrounded by Vampires, even if they didn't know it; they looked extremely agitated, verging on downright scared. I wonder if Jasper was doing something to them.

And the dogs… they were still freaking out. I tried to meet their eyes, trying to get them to calm down somehow, but it only worked a little. I don't know if it would have worked any better if I was a Wolf right now. That would probably freak them out even more. But at least I was another creature in the room that was warm and had a heartbeat. I think that they knew that, and somehow the fact that I was calm, calmed them down as well.

"Of course that would have been the first thing I would have done under normal circumstances," Carlisle continued to explain. "Unfortunately the young lady was too unstable to be moved to the hospital. She didn't have any identification on her and hadn't told us her name."

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't notify the police. Her parents have been worried sick about her."

"Her parents?" Carlisle questioned with false ignorance. What was he doing now? "While she hasn't regained consciousness the young lady has been speaking in her sleep from time to time. A few things she said, events she mentioned participating in, led be to believe that she was at least eighteen, if not twenty. I had no reason to not believe her, and as an adult saw no reason to alert the Police."

The Doc's delivery was perfect. There was no way these guys would be able to tell that he was lying. But anybody looking at Janet could clearly tell she wasn't an adult. Did he really think he was going to convince these cops that she was eighteen and not the fourteen years old that she looked? I know the Cullen's are good at dazzling people but this just seems a bit much.

This wasn't going very well. They were getting more and more agitated and the dogs were starting to go crazy again.

"Officers," Rose fluttered her eyes and smiled over at all of them, "you look like you've had a very long day. Why don't you come and sit down and we'll get you something to drink," she said while lightly touching each of their shoulders, arms, chests... What was she doing? Was this what Alice saw? That she seduced them? Was that really her plan?

Never mind. Her flirting and dazzling was clearly going to work. Yuck! I think at least two of them literally started drooling right there in the middle of the living room.

I thought Emmett would have been growling but he just chuckled and disappeared into the kitchen. I guess he'd seen her do this sort of thing before.

Seeing that it was working Bella, Alice, and even Esme joined in much to their husbands chagrin. This must have been the "plan" that Alice explained to everyone while I was still with David. Edward's face winced in misery but he didn't make a move to stop Bella.

Rose took Hollis's hand, while Bella, Alice, and Esme each grabbed one of the other cop's, pulling them over to the couches. Officer Dan was left standing in the middle of the room alone. Thank goodness Nessie and Felicity had stayed upstairs with our son!

Carlisle and Jasper then followed Emmett into the kitchen, but not Edward. He did something I wasn't expecting. He grabbed Officer Dan's hand and pulled him over to the love seat, much to the jerks delight. Interesting. Now I understood why Eddie was so troubled before.

The dogs were still barking. I guess that was my cue. Was this actually going to work? A quick, quizzical look over at Alice and I saw her nod, slightly. It was so small no one would ever really notice it unless they were looking for it.

"Come here boys," I called as I crouched down in the corner of the room. The dogs came and I did my best to calm them down, or at the very least distract them. While they were happily diverting my attention from what was happening on the couches, I strained to hear what was happening upstairs.

Then at 3:42pm just like Alice predicted Janet's screaming stopped!

Was Janet dead? Alive?

What about David? I didn't hear anything. Was he in shock?

I wished I was up there.

* * *

**A.N.** So what do you think? Is Janet Alive? Or not?

And what about the rest of the chapter? Too weird? Funny?

Please review and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.


	31. Aftermath

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Thirty-One**

**Aftermath**

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

For a fraction of a second I panicked when Janet's screaming stopped. So did David, but when I looked at Janet I saw her eyes flutter.

She was alive! I think. Yes! I could still hear her heartbeat.

What color were her eyes? I couldn't see. David had moved over her and was blocking my view.

He hadn't phased yet so I assumed that they were not red. Which meant Janet probably wasn't a newborn. But then why had she been so cold to the touch?

I wish my grandfather was here, now.

"David," I heard Janet's weak voice creak out. I still couldn't see her, but wasn't going to tolerate that anymore. Leaning around my son I finally got a look.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that she was still human. Her eyes were still brown, her heart was beating, and her skin was paler than it had been, but that was understandable considering all she'd been through. She looked horrible. Strangely enough that was a good thing; for my son at least, since enhanced beauty would have been a sign she'd changed.

Yet some things still pointed to that. Her skin was cold, but not as cold as my family's, and her scent was off. Maybe it was just traces of Stefan's venom in her system. But it didn't smell like venom. It was sweeter. Not as sugary sweet as my family, more of a subdued floral mixed with baby powder. It was nice but knowing how my son had a problem with my family's aroma it made me worried. Glancing over at David now, if he was bothered by it, he wasn't showing it. That or he was so overwhelmed that she'd woken up that he hadn't noticed yet.

"Here drink this," my daughter said as she handed Janet a glass of water that she must have just dashed and gotten from the bathroom.

Janet starter to take a sip. Her hands shook as she held the glass, but David was right there and steadied it for her with his own. She finished half of it and then the tears came. And for once they weren't solely from David. Janet's screams were now replaced with uncontrollable crying. This was way too much for a fourteen year old to handle. And she justifiable broke down. Now that there was something else to think of other than the immense pain she was in she couldn't handle it anymore.

But that was why we were here. David never left her side as she cried and shook, convulsed, and dry–heaved. She probably would have thrown-up if there had been any food in her system.

Felicity and I stayed for moral support for the first couple of hours until Jake, my mother and father, and Carlisle, eventually made their way upstairs. I guess that meant the cop situation had been handled. Hopefully they were gone. I hadn't heard any yelling, growling, grunting, or barking in awhile. Though they tried to hide it they all seemed to be acting strange. Something must have happened down there - I'll ask Jake about it later. Hopefully they didn't find out one of the family's many secrets. We didn't need more issues to deal with right now.

Quil, who had been with Claire, comforting her and keeping her safe at her home, was called and he arrived forty-seven minutes later with Claire. Just seeing her sister seemed to help calm Janet down and I think the same was true of Claire.

As soon as she entered the bedroom she ran to Janet and they hugged for what seemed like forever, but was really just eight and a half minutes.

They stayed for over an hour. Quil had called Claire's parents, letting them know that he would bring her home soon. He knew the sisters needed some time together but it was already 7pm and we didn't need their parents thinking that they had two missing daughters.

Carlisle mentioned that he wanted to give Janet a thorough examination, but after all that she'd been though I didn't think she was in any shape mentally for that. David was doing the best he could to calm her down and reassure her that it was all over and that she would be okay. Of course until Carlisle examined her there was no way for him to be certain of that.

"Here, Janet," my mother said re-entering the room with a tray of food. "Why don't you try eating something and then maybe you'll feel more up to letting Dr. Cullen look at you."

My mom was so smart. Calling my grandfather "_Dr. Cullen_" would probably make a teenage girl much more likely to let Carlisle examine her. And the soup and crackers she brought was just what Janet needed right now. She hadn't eaten solid food in two weeks. She must be starving. Carlisle had done what he could, adding vitamins and nutrients to the saline he'd given her, but beyond that he hadn't had much success.

A half hour later he returned and tried again. This time he was successful. Janet didn't feel comfortable being in the room alone with him though. Quil had to take Claire home awhile ago, and even though Dave had Imprinted on her, and it hurt him to be away from her, he understood her need for some privacy.

"Thanks, for staying," she sighed to me. "I have never been to a doctor that was a man." I was surprised she'd asked me to stay with her but readily agreed.

"Of course, darling. And don't worry. My grandfather is my doctor too. He's completely professional, and he's the best in the world." Literally.

"Alright, shall we get started?" Carlisle asked, still standing in the doorway, until Janet nodded her approval. "Wonderful, why don't we start by taking your temperature," he said while slowly (human speed) walking across the room and placing a thermometer in Janet's mouth after she nodded again in agreement.

A few seconds later it beeped and he removed it. I doubted he actually needed the instrument but was doing things the human way, all in an effort to put her at ease.

"Hmmm, ninety-six point two degrees. Well we're moving in the right direction. How do you feel Janet? Are you still cold?" For the first time in days she wasn't shivering anymore.

"Yeah, I'm kinda chilly. Can I've a jacket or sweater or something."

"Of course. I'll get you one when we're through here," he replied.

Next he checked her heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. He looked in her eyes, ears, and mouth, and checked her reflexes. He drew some blood and ended by asking her for a urine sample.

When she returned, I thought he would be done but Carlisle asked if he could run a few more tests, which she again agreed to only if I stayed, which I of course did.

Carlisle gave her a full body set of x-rays and ultrasound her entire body. I wasn't sure what he hoped to see but he probably would have given her an MRI or CAT scan if he had the equipment in the house.

"Well my dear, I still need to check your blood and urine samples but you should feel much better in a day or two. I'm going to go check these now," he said holding up the blood filled test tubes and urine cup. "Would you like me to inform everyone of the results or shall I leave that to you?" he asked Janet.

"Ummmm -" she seemed lost.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of telling everyone," I cut in. "Can I talk to you first about something first?" I asked him, trying to sound casual.

All the while Carlisle was examining Janet his face appeared a little worried. Not that any normal person, especially not Janet, would be able to tell. But I had known him my entire life and he couldn't hide anything from me. Something was definitely wrong with her, beyond a dip in her normal temperature and the other things I'd observed.

"Of course, after you," he replied, opening the door for me. I grabbed Jake, who had been waiting in the hall just outside the room, while David rushed back to Janet's side, carrying one of my sweaters to give to her, and we headed to Carlisle's office.

I wanted us to talk to him, in private, to go over what was _exactly_ going on with my sons Imprint. I needed to know if we need to prepare ourselves for their demise again, or not.

"Carlisle, what's wrong with her? Just get it over with and tell us." He started running his tests on the samples he took from Janet as I spoke.

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you, Renesmee. It's almost like she's caught halfway in between staying human and turning into a Vampire."

"What do you mean? Is she... half, like me, now?" I question a little unbelievably.

"I'm not exactly sure what has happened to her to tell you the truth. Your temperature is higher than a normal human's; hers is lower. Your skin is hard like marble just like the rest of ours, hers is not. I was easily able to get a needle into her arm to draw some blood. Her eyes are not red, but then again, neither are yours.

"But there are other differences as well. Your heartbeat is quicker than humans, just like Jacob, or any of the other Wolves, yet hers, it's almost imperceptibly slower than it had been. And then there is the change in her smell."

"Yeah, I noticed. But what does this mean? David doesn't seem to be upset by the changes, so maybe it isn't so bad."

"He hasn't noticed, not all of them at least, but when he does -" Jake winced. He didn't need to finish his sentence. We both knew it wouldn't be good.

"I need to run more tests to find out exactly what I'm dealing with," Carlisle cut in. "Which means doing more extensive blood tests, to begin with, but that requires more blood than I already took. I'm afraid that in her condition, taking anymore, without replacing it, would be detrimental to her already fragile health. And unfortunately I ran out of what I'd acquired from my hospital contact."

"Should I call Embry and ask him to come back here to donate some more?" Jake asked. "I'm sure he would. Even if his Wolf blood didn't help before, at least it could replace whatever you take."

"Actually, it did help. I believe that his blood was the push that finally woke her out of the state she was in, even if it was hours after first being administered. There was so much venom and anti-venom in her blood stream that, if my theory is correct, it just took a little while for it to work through her system."

"But I thought she was getting better before you even gave her Embry's blood."

"Given recent events, I now doubt that was true. It's is more likely that the reason she'd stopped screaming and thrashing around as much as before was actually due to exhaustion, not the anti-venom. It was merely halting the venom from completing her transformation. These newest tests," he said while looking at the readout from the machine he'd run her blood through, "now lead me to believe that it was Embry's blood that was the key factor that brought her back."

"So then could more of his blood completely fix her?" Jake's eyes brightened for the first time in awhile. I could see the hope in them now.

"Jacob, Wolf blood is not a cure all. But I don't see any harm in using it again."

"But you're not certain of that, are you Doc? If it worked once it could work again." Jake seemed a little frantic. I know he needed Janet to be alright for David, but I just hoped he wasn't putting too much hope, or faith, or whatever in Wolf blood being some sort of miracle fix.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up. But no, I'm not one hundred percent certain. There is always the possibility -"

"Sure, sure. Thanks Doc. I'll go call Embry." Jake dashed out of Carlisle's office to retrieve his phone.

"All right, well then I need to check on Janet and then we still need to deal with the... um, situation downstairs," Carlisle spoke again, before going back to attend to Janet, with David, while I went downstairs to see what this _situation_ was.

I guess I was wrong when I thought everything had been taken care of.

"What happened to them?" I asked, spotting the five sleeping cops zonked out on the living room couches, and the dogs doing the same by their feet. At least I hoped they were sleeping. The rise and fall of their chests and steady heartbeats assured me they were. Not that I really thought my family would result to murder, but you never know.

"Well... we had to do something, and I saw that nothing we _said_ would work so -" Alice began to explain.

"So what? You thought replacing one kidnapping, drugging, and holding captive charge wasn't enough, you wanted to add to it by five, and with police officers, no less?" I'd been through too much today. This was too much.

"Relax Renesmee. The officers have only been temporarily rendered unconscious thanks to a few different drugs Carlisle obtained from the hospital. While they were ineffective in helping lesson Janet's discomfort then worked perfectly on them," Rose assured me.

"I put it into their drinks, while the others _distracted_ them," Emmett chuckled. "One of the pills knocked them out, and another will make them forget ever even coming here. You might have heard of a street drug similar to it – Rohypnol. What they got does the same thing, but is much safer, and Carlisle said that it's routinely given to surgical patients. The cops are perfectly safe."

"Jasper is on the phone with Mr. Jenks right now. Everything is being set up and will be taken care of. They," Alice said pointing to the cops, "are going to wake up at a... err, strip club in Seattle. The normal staff has been compensated and if asked, though I don't know who would, but if anyone does, they will swear that these gentlemen have been there all day for a private _party_ before the club opened.

"And Charlie is on his way. He's going to help us destroy any notes Office Dan, or the others made, and return the police dogs. He's not happy about it but Bella got him to go along with it anyway.

"Thanks to the spiked drinks they will have no memory of coming here. Office Dan is the only one we need to be concerned about. But the, um... strippers should be very convincing. And now that Janet has made her recovery and will be home soon, collaborating our side of the story and denying that she was ever here, all should be fine."

"But how did you get a bunch of strippers to go along with this?" How much money did they have to pay them?

"Actually we are having Jenks rent out the strip club, not the staff. The _strippers_ will actually be Tanya, Kate, and Carmen. Eleazar and Garrett should make some pretty convincing bouncers," Emmett chuckled.

"Normally we wouldn't bother with all of this Nessie, but we have Charlie to think of. It will work, trust me, I've seen it," Alice chuckled.

I guess now wasn't the time to bet against my aunt, I just wished she could have come up with something a little less depraved.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Ring... Ring... Ring... Ring... "_Hello, you've reached Embry Call's phone. I'm unable to –_"

I hit the "END" button on my phones screen. Damn-it Embry! Pick up your phone.

Ring... Ring... Ring... Ring... "_Hello, you've reached Embry –_"

I slammed my finger on the "END" button again. Argh! Now what? Maybe he was a Wolf.

I quickly went outside to phase. Unfortunately Embry wasn't in his Wolf form. Nor was Leah. That was it of my Pack. Now what?

I quickly shifted into my Spirit Form and found that Quil was currently a Wolf.

He must have finished dropping off Claire at her parents' house and was running home.

_Quil, can you hear me?_

_Hey, Jake. What's up?_

_ Sorry to bother you, I'm sure you have your hands full with Claire, but I need you to go find Embry for me. _

_ Sure, I just have... _

_No Quil, I need you to find him and have him call me – __right now__!_

_ Oh... um, okay. Is everything alright?_

_ No... Yeah... It will be. I just need to talk to him. Just GO... _I was sure Quil could hear the stress and building anger in my voice. I needed to calm down. Yelling at Quil wasn't going to help Janet, or David right now. _Can you PLEASE just go find him, NOW. _Okay maybe a little more yelling. I couldn't help it.

_Alright, Alright. I'm going, h_e said before taking off. I returned to my Wolf body and phased back to human to wait for Embry's call.

Twenty-two minutes later my phone finally rang. I thought it would be Embry calling me back, but it was actually Quil again.

"Quil, what happened. Couldn't you find him?"

"No, um... I found him. But he's... um... busy. Maybe tomorrow -"

"WHAT? What's he too busy doing that he can't pick up the phone?"

I was enraged, but a twinge of guilt hit me as I said that, thinking back to when I was in Forks last. How I'd been too busy, watching David, to call Nessie. And that was an entire month. Quil just said Embry would call tomorrow. No wait, actually he said _maybe_ tomorrow. Was there some new emergency he was taking care of?

I heard Charlie's police cruiser pull up, but made no move to go over there. The dogs were still knocked out so he won't need help getting them into the truck, the Cullens could carry them. I had other, more important things that needed my attention.

"Colleen is in labor, Jake," Embry explained. "The baby's coming; he's with her at the hospital. Whatever it is you need to talk to him about I'm sure it can wait, dude."

"I don't care -"

Carlisle took the phone out of my hand. "Thank you, Quil. I assume she went to the one in Forks?"

Quil confirmed the hospital and then the Doc ended the call before turning to talk to me.

Great. Was I in for some sort of lecture? I know I lost it there, but I was worried, and stressed. I know I shouldn't have taken it out on Quil, but... Argh.

"Jacob, please calm down." Here it comes. "Why don't you stay here, with David and Janet while I run to the hospital? I may still have some pull there," he smirked to me. "I'm sure I can quickly get what we need and Embry will never even have to leave Colleen's side."

Oh, no lecture? And he was going to get Embry's blood. Damn, now I felt even worse for my behavior. "Sure, sure. Thanks... and sorry."

"Of course, but I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

_No, duh! _But I didn't say that. I just sighed as I watched him turn and go. I would call Quil and apologize later.

* * *

**A.N. **Thanks for reading and please review. Also if you haven't already can you please add me to your favorites list so others can see. I would love to get some more people to read this story.

Please let me know what you think about the story so far. If you read the first version (Sunrise) do you think this edited version is better? Worse?


	32. Everything Will Be Okay… It Has To Be

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Thirty-Two**

**Everything Will Be Okay… It Has To Be**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Before I saw him, or even heard him, I could smell him. Carlisle was back. Finally! "You got it?" I questioned as he made his way into the house. He'd been gone for hours, and I'd gotten antsy, passing back and forth by the front door. I know donating blood took a while, but he should have been back much sooner Embry better not have given him any trouble.

"That's our cue," I heard Rose say from somewhere in the house before she and most of the Cullens fled out the front door to go hunt. Good, no need to even be tempted. But knowing their preferences it was more likely that they were disgusted with the smell of Wolf blood.

But three bags? "Isn't that too much?"

"We had to stop halfway through so he could eat something, but he wanted to do as much as he could. Colleen is still hours away from delivering, so he won't be able to come here and didn't want me to have to come back again. Not to worry; with his accelerated healing he should be fine within the hour. Embry is a good friend to you."

Great now I felt even worse for what I'd thought and the way I treated Quil. I was going to owe both of them big time after all of this. "Yeah, how am I ever going to thank him?"

"I'm sure you will think of something. In the meantime I believe there is someone upstairs who could use this," he grinned, lightly tapping on the cooler in his hands.

"Right Doc, let's go." I turned so we could both go to Janet's room. She was awake and talking to David and Felicity. Janet still looked horrible and so did David, but it sounded like my daughter was trying to cheer them up with stories of her time with Nahuel and Leah and their endless PDA. Yikes! That was supposed to make them laugh? The little bit I overheard haunted me.

"Where is Renesmee? I thought she would be in here as well," Carlisle asked looking around.

"Relax Doc, she's just catching up on some sleep." I turned to my son, "David you should do the same." He'd barely sleep the past couple of weeks.

"I'll sleep when I know Janet is better."

"Well then let's see what we can do." As he moved closer to Janet's IV bag she got agitated. "Relax darling. Nothing to be afraid of. You're still… _weak_ and I need to run some more tests to determine exactly what's going on. I'll need to draw more blood from you but I have some right here to replace what I take," the Doc reassured her, as he hung up the first bag.

"Alright. Will you stay with me?" she asked David.

"Of course. I'll never leave your side. If you don't want me too, that is."

"We'll stay too, if you'd like," Felicity said gesturing to the two of us, to which Janet just nodded.

She winced as Carlisle inserted the needle to draw however much blood he needed, but David gave her other arm a comforting squeeze and then kissed her forehead, which seemed to help her relax. After the vials were full Carlisle inserted a new needle to hook up Embry's blood. But as soon as it began to drip Janet's head snapped around and her eyes grew wide.

"What's that?"

"Remember I explained to you that we would need to replace the blood that I took from you?" Carlisle explained.

"Yeah I remember, but it's... I…" she didn't seem to be able to finish her sentence. What was wrong?

"After the transfusion I am sure you will be feeling much better. Blood loss can sometimes lead to the confusion you're experiencing," the Doc tried to reassure her.

"No... I…" she was shaking now, digging her nails into the mattress. Carlisle seemed to ignore her strange behavior, probably accustomed to it in all his years of medical practice, instead kept his eyes on the blood flowing down the tube, as it was about to go into Janet's arm. But before it did she ripped the needle out of her arm, grabbed the bag, tearing it open with her teeth, and began guzzling down its contents.

We all froze.

"Janet…" David gulped before slowly, shakily, backing up, over to the large window at the far end of the room and flinging himself out of it. I ran over just in time to see him land safely on the ground in his wolf form, and run into the forest.

Damn-it!

"I need to go after him." He probably just needs to calm down, but I didn't want him doing anything stupid.

"Of course, perhaps you should wake Renesmee up before you leave."

"Sure, sure," I hurriedly said to the Doc, as I ran to the door. I didn't have a lot of time.

"No, no Dad, go after David. I'll go get Mom," Felicity called, as she ran out of the room behind me.

"Thanks," I called, as I took off in the opposite direction.

"Are you feeling alright? Did the blood upset your stomach at all?" I heard Carlisle asked Janet, but was too far away now to hear her answer.

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

"Mom... MOM... **MOM**!"

Why is Felicity calling me? I'm sleeping!

Opening one eye and glancing at my alarm clock I saw that I hadn't slept more than a few hours. That wouldn't have been so bad but I hadn't slept more than four to five hours a night for the past couple of weeks.

"Hmmm? What's it?" Could she even understand me in my slumberly state? Then I saw the panic on my daughters face. Now I was awake and began getting dressed at Vampire speed. Ten seconds later I was headed to Janet's room, my daughter filling me in on the way.

"Janet, how are you doing?" I asked after entering the room.

I guess what happened wasn't completely unexpected. I mean she was some sort of Half-Vampire now; it's natural that drinking blood was going to be part of it. I wasn't sure how David was going to deal with this new development, though. Hopefully Jake would be able to calm him down; talk some sense into him, and bring him back.

"I still don't know -" she shook her head. "Why did I do that? I drank blood. That's soooo gross, why would I drink it? It just... it just... smelled so good, I couldn't help myself. Why did I... Gross. Ew, ew, eeeewwww," she squirmed and then started to gag.

"It's all right, calm down," I whispered, while stroking her head, trying to calm her. "Carlisle will the blood make her sick?" Why was she gagging?

"I don't believe so. Physically she seems to be doing much better. And she says she feels fine, despite being… repulsed by her actions."

What does that mean? "So is she…" I didn't want to finish that sentence, not in front of Janet. She was already so emotionally fragile. Learning she might be part Vampire might push her over the edge.

"Why don't we talk in my office?" my grandfather suggested. "Janet, would it be okay if Felicity stayed with you for a moment? That is if Felicity is okay with it."

"Of course," "Yeah, sure," they both replied at the same time.

Once we were in Carlisle's office he explained to me that the blood she drank only seemed to return her to the state she was in prior to his extracting her own. Everything else - her low body temperature, slower heartbeat, and sweeter body aroma - were the same. He'd also discovered in his examinations that while her skin wasn't solid like mine or a Full-Vampires, her bones were. It seemed very unlikely that she would ever naturally break a bone again in her life. Having an Imprinted, Half-Vampire, thinking he was losing his Soulmate, and administer over the top CPR might be one of the only ways it could ever happen. Or if she decided to wrestle Emmett.

Carlisle also mentioned that those bones were already completely healed. He couldn't be sure if it was from Embry's wolf blood or whatever kind of half-Vampire she was now. And it seemed that her body now craved blood, even if her mind didn't.

Jake would be crushed. He was really hoping that Embry's Wolf blood was going to be a magic cure all.

"So what does this mean?" I questioned my grandfather. "Is she continuing to change into a Vampire or is this it? Is she going to be like this forever? Or start to regain her humanity?"

"It means I need to run more tests, I'm afraid, before I can give you any definitive answers. For now she's stable. I'll continue to monitor her. And someone should call Quil."

Quil? "Don't you think that having Quil bringing Claire here now is a little dangerous? I know Janet hasn't attacked anyone for their blood yet, but now that she's tasted some it might only be a matter of time."

"No, you misunderstand. That's exactly what I mean. We need to call him to warn against having him bring Claire here this afternoon, like was scheduled."

"Oh, right, of course. I'll do that right now."

After calling Quil I returned to Janet's room, where Felicity quietly informed me that Janet had been asking her what happened to David. She said it so quietly that Janet wouldn't be able to hear, at least I didn't think she would, of course she might have enhanced hearing along with the other changes in her. I don't think anyone thought to find that out yet. Apparently Janet missed him jumping out of the window. Not wanting to upset her even more, my daughter didn't know exactly what to tell her. Neither did I.

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

_David, there you are! _I'd been running all over the state looking for him. This was hard, him not bring in my Pack anymore, I couldn't see into his head as a Wolf. I only saw and heard what he wanted me to see. And he didn't want me to see where he was. After more than an hour of searching I'd finally picked up his scent. If this had taken any longer I was going to phase into my Spirit Form and find someone in Jared's Pack that was also phased to tell me where he was.

_Dad I just can't talk to you about this right now. _He started to run away as he heard me approach.

I jumped in front of him, cutting off his exit route. _Please stop. Let's just talk for a minute_. He started growling back at me, but it wasn't meant to be an attack. I know how it could look, two Wolves angling for position in the forest. But I opened my mind to him and showed him that I just wanted to talk. He didn't do the same, but at least he didn't pounce or run. _ I know this is hard, son. I know how you feel right now. When I first heard how Bella, your grandmother, wanted to change into a Vampire... _

_This is not the same Dad. First of all... it's what she wanted. This was forced on Janet, she wasn't given a choice. Second I know you loved her, but not as much as I love Janet. _I was about to interject but he cut me off and continued talking. _All of your pain went away when you Imprinted on Mom. I don't have that option. My Imprint is now the thing I hate. What am I suppose to do now? _He said while collapsing onto the ground.

_Are you telling me that your Imprint bond was broken? That you no longer love her?_

How could that be? I don't know anything that would make me stop loving Nessie, Imprint or not. She was truly my soulmate in every way. What was David telling me?

_I… NO! I... I don't feel that way anymore. The Imprint magic is... gone, or taken. _He started growling. _Stolen…by that LEECH! _

My son was lying. I could feel it. But I wasn't sure if he was lying to me, or himself._ David you're wrong. You didn't really give it... her... a chance. She's been like this since shortly after she was bitten, weeks ago. It wasn't until you saw her drink blood that you got upset and ran away. _

_What are you talking about, Dad? She's been exactly the same, _human_, just writhing in pain, up until today. _

_No she has not_. I grimaced internally at what I was about to say next. I didn't really want to tell him, but I felt I had too. _There have been many differences in her. You already know that her body temperature is lower. And there have been other changes as well. She smells sweeter for one thing. I'm not saying it's as intense as the Cullen's, but it's definitely more fragrant than it used to be. _

He growled, getting up on all fours. _Don't you think that's something I would have noticed?_ He was getting defensive now and was looking for a fight. I needed to find some way to calm him down, not wanting to come to blows with, and possibly injure, my own son.

_David, I think it's that you're so in love with her,_ I began gently, _that you didn't see, or care, up until now. It's just your brain, at this moment, that's trying to overwhelm your heart. She's still your Imprint. I know you still love her. You just need to give her a chance. She's still the same girl. Her soul's the same. And isn't that what you fell in love with?_

It looked like he started to calm down and sat back on his hind legs. But then a moment latter he jumped back up. Damn. Now what?

_How am I supposed to ignore the fact that she's going to try and kill half the Reservation, in some sort of newborn feeding frenzy. _

_What feeding frenzy, David? She hasn't attacked Claire, or you, or your sister, or anyone else with human or half human blood, since she woke up. Why do you think she's gonna start now? Just because there was one instance where she drank blood, which was practically shoved in her face, doesn't mean she's going to go after someone. _

_Yeah, and it doesn't mean she's not, either, _Dave huffed. _You don't know what's going to happen. This could just be the start. Maybe she hadn't realized how much she wanted, or needed, blood up until now. Once she realizes her bloodlust there might be no stopping her. And then whose job is it gonna be to deal with her? MINE! _He growled again.

Now I think I understood what the problem was, why he was so upset. He still loved Janet, and he knew it. But he couldn't allow himself to let her hurt anyone. He would rather he kill both of them first, than risk losing a single life. He was so protective of humans.

_You don't really want to kill her David, do you?_

_No, _he huffed, seeing that I knew the truth. He slumped back down onto the wet ground, in defeat. _ But do you think I'm really going to have a choice?_

_There's always a choice... for you and her. Even if she's consumed with the drinking of human blood now, which you don't even know if she is, she still has a choice. She has her own mind. She may choose not to, just like the Cullen's. We'll all help her - your mother, sister, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. And Jared and the rest of the Pack too. _

_Maybe. But if she doesn't? If she can't? _

_Then that's something we'll deal with when the time comes. But it's not something that you should decide right here, in the middle of the woods, when you're so raw and emotional. Don't make any decisions right now. It could affect you for the rest of your life. _

_Dad, do you think I really would want to live forever if I have to kill my own Imprint?_

_That's my point son._

After a little more convincing, we made our way back to the house. A few Wolves from Jared's Pack were wandering around outside. When David and I had been in our Wolf forms one of the Wolves must have overheard our conversation. I guess that was expected, and might just be a good thing. I needed all the help I could get on this.

"Renesmee called and asked everyone to come home," Bella informed me as we walked through the front door.

"I figured."

"What's Jared's Pack doing here?" she asked me, noticing all the Wolves in her front lawn for the first time.

Even though they had been here, off and on, over the past couple of weeks, they still were not comfortable just walking into the house uninvited, and it didn't look like any of the Cullen's had offered.

"I did," Edward informed me, "but they seem to prefer staying outside at the moment. They feel that they might be needed in their Wolf form and prefer not to be in the house, they don't want to break anything, but they are anticipating that David is going to -" Edward's voice turned to a whisper, before cutting off entirely.

But I didn't need him to finish his sentence. I knew what he meant. And I told him so with my mind. I didn't want there to be any possibility, no matter how small, that Dave might hear.

"I don't think it's going to be necessary," Edward continued anyway. "I heard what the two of you said in the woods and there was one part that you seem to have overlooked." Then he turned to my son. "David, I know the situation with Janet is very stressful for you -"

"For me?" he yelled. "This is nothing. What about Janet? What must she be going through now? Argh! I can't believe I left her like that. But I don't trust myself around her, and in truth she shouldn't trust me because I don't see this ending well for either of us." He shook his head as he paced back and forth around the living room.

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about. You seem to be forgetting one thing." He quickly moved so he was right by my son, looking him in the eyes, but not so close as to make himself feel like a threat. "Janet is NOT a Vampire."

"What?"

"She's not a Vampire, David. It's true that she did drink blood, but she was repulsed by what she did. And she does not seem to have the bloodlust or frenzy that Vampires go into when feeding. And now that she's consciously aware of it, I don't believe she's going to continue, if she can help it. There were two more packages of blood that Carlisle had acquired, yet she refused to drink them. She did need the blood so Carlisle set them up... err, the old fashioned way, to deliver one of them into her system. She's still upstairs in bed, receiving the remainder of her transfusion. I would suggest you go up there in a little while once you've calmed down, to speak to her. I know she would love to see you."

"Wait, so what, exactly, is she then," I questioned.

"Carlisle is still running his tests, but we will have to wait for him to get more conclusive results from the blood tests."

"I think I'm going to go up," David said, smiling now.

_Is he okay? _I silently asked Edward. _This isn't some sort of trick is it?_

He almost imperceptible shook his head as David bounced up the stairs to Janet's room.

"I'll keep listening, but I believe he just wants to talk to her."

A few seconds later Nessie, Felicity, and Carlisle came down stairs and joined the rest of us.

"Hello sweetheart," Nessie said as she gave me a peck on the cheek. "David asked if he could speak to Janet alone so we cleared out."

"Nessie you look dead on your feet. Come on, let's go take a nap. You too Felicity. I'm sure Edward can wake us up if anything happens." Edward nodded and we made our way upstairs.

Even with everything that was happening, now that Nessie and I were laying in bed, and my arms were around her, I felt myself begin to relax. I could feel our Imprint bond – the pull, the love, the connection. All David had to do was listen to his and everything would work out. It just had too.

* * *

**A.N. - ** So you may or may not have noticed that I changed the title of this chapter. I just think it works better.

There are just 3 chapters left with Book 3 and then it's on to Book 4. There were originally only two chapters left, but as I was editing the original version I just kept tweaking things, and adding bits here and there, and it ended up being 36 pages long, which I think everyone can agree is too long for one chapter, so I split it up. (It's going to have to stay together as one on the Sunrise version, but there's nothing I can do about that, as far as I know. I'll have to look into seeing if there is a way to add in a chapter in the middle of a story.

Please, Please, Please review.


	33. Test Results

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Thirty-Three**

**Test Results**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

We were all sitting around in the living room, just waiting. Okay, we weren't just sitting, staring at a blank wall, or anything.

And it wasn't all of us.

All morning long David and Janet talked... and talked... and talked, while Carlisle tested, tested, tested.

David was currently upstairs with Janet, talking through everything that had happened, starting three weeks ago, when she was first bitten, and the reasons behind it - the necklace, Stefan and Vladimir's assumptions, and everything else through when she woke up yesterday, when David abruptly left.

They had started yesterday, as soon as I brought him home, but they were so tired, before long they both had fallen asleep before really getting into things. Once they woke up this morning, Esme brought them some breakfast and they continued their conversation from last night.

We could all hear, since Esme had tactfully left the door open, how David was gently explaining everything to her. He also told her how no one, not even Carlisle, was sure exactly what she was yet, but that no matter what, he would always love her. She knew about the Imprinting, and their bond, and understood how when he said "love" he meant how it was just a _friendship_ based love... right now, at least.

Don't get me wrong. I was glad that they were talking. Janet needed to know what had happened to her, and David needed to figure out what was going on with his feelings for her, but this waiting was killing me.

And it wasn't just me. While the two of them talked, and Carlisle tested, Bella read Wuthering Heights; again! Jasper and Alice played game after game of chess, Rose and Nessie giggled over something in a magazine, Felicity and Edward played the piano, while Esme watched – she was so impressed by my daughters playing ability, even after so little time (everyone was, really). And Emmett and I mindlessly watched the TV that someone had turned on. There was a re-broadcast of a baseball game on. I'd seen it before but I couldn't tell you who was up, or what inning it was, if my life depended on it.

No one had seen Leah or Nahuel in a few days, but I caught their sent yesterday, while I was out looking for David, so I knew they were still in the area... somewhere, doing... yeah, never mind. I don't even want to think about that. Felicity was right. Too much PDA.

Carlisle was still in his office all these hours, conducting his tests on Janet's blood.

Finally, at 10:43am he entered the living room.

"Edward, Rosalie? Would you mind stepping into my office for a moment? I would like you both to double check my results."

Double check? Carlisle? Judging by the worried look on his face, I had a feeling the results were definitely not what we were hoping for. I prayed that it wouldn't be the worst result - that Janet was still changing, and she would eventually become a Full-Vampire.

Well, everybody else in the room probably wouldn't see that as such a bad thing. Possibly not Rosalie, and David surely would be upset by the news. He was the one I was most worried about right now. Him and Janet.

Eighteen minutes later the three of them returned.

Come on, someone, give me a clue. Smiles. Frowns. Scowls. Growls. Something! But they all wore the same, plastered on, emotionless masks.

"Okay, we have the results of Janet's blood tests," Rosalie began.

"So what's it, Doc?" I started in. I know Rose and Edward had gone to med school, multiple times, over the decades, but I wanted to hear it from him. "Is she a Vampire or not?"

"Not exactly. She's as I had first suspected, previously," he replied. "Every result, from every test I ran on her blood, the results were the same. Her cells seem to be caught in between Vampire and human, and they are not making any progress one way or the other. And to add to that, it seems that her need for blood is not going to end. The Vampire cells in her body appear to require it, but she also needs to drink and eat human food as well."

"So what are we gonna do? You can't exactly stay in Washington buying donated blood, from the hospital, for the rest of her life, which... wait, how long is that going to be exactly Carlisle?"

"That, at least, I do have good news for. She's continuing to age normally."

Well, that was some relief, I guess. But then again, if she'd become immortal, David would continue to live forever, just like his mother and I. I guess this means that some day he will grow old and die with his Imprint. Or would he? He was part Vampire as well. Damn! This was so confusing. What would happen to him if he stayed this age forever, and Janet grew older and died?

"We have some more good news," Edward spoke up. "As far as we can tell she should be able to drink, or be transfused with any blood type. It does not have to be the A-negative blood type that Embry has, so that gives us a few more options, at least."

"What about animal blood? I guess it wouldn't work for a transfusion, but couldn't she drink it?" Nessie questioned.

"I'm afraid not," Carlisle replied. "I have tested a number of animals local to the region, and none seem to contain enough of the nutrients that her body now requires. I'm afraid there is no substitute for human blood in her case."

"Could she drink from me?" Dave asked. Was he actually smiling at the idea? He'd been upstairs with Janet, but had poked his head around the top of the stairwell as we began talking. Of course we would have gone up there and told him all of this anyway, but he probably couldn't wait any longer.

"Like Renesmee, she now has venom in her system, but is not venomous. I suppose so," Edward mused, scratching his head, "but her teeth are not as strong as ours. She would need help."

"I could do that for her. Bite my own arm, or make a small cut on my neck, or something? And then she could, right? Like once a week or something? And that would be enough? She wouldn't go around attacking people?" He was frantic, trying to find a solution, blurting out ideas. Everyone could tell the mess he'd become from all of this, and his words reinforced that now. But his idea had potential.

"If she agrees to it, yes, that would be possible, I believe," Carlisle agreed.

Panic filled me now, as flashes of my own ordeal with Nessie and her bloodlust for me, went racing through my mind. I didn't want him to suffer the same fate that Nessie and I did.

"We'd stay long enough to make sure, before we leave, but I don't see Janet having the same problem," Edward tried to reassure me. "Janet is different than Nessie. She requires much less blood, she'd probably be fine, just requiring three or four mouthfuls, once a week. She wouldn't need to drain him like Renesmee did you. There should be no risk to David's life."

"What are you talking about?" David gasped. Oh, crap, here we go. His eyes were wide and his breath caught.

Nessie quickly went over to our son and grabbed his hand. Edward quietly told me, and everyone else in the room, that she was showing him with her gift exactly what had happened with her bloodlust when she'd finished aging. The worst of it. The parts I hadn't told him about, I'd explained the basic details, but had glossed over the risk to my life part.

"You're sure she's not gonna need that much," Dave stunned me by calmly asking Carlisle when she was done. "Even when she gets older? Bigger? Requires more to eat?" He was taking the news better than I'd thought he was going to. Was he in shock or was Janet's situation was putting things into perspective for him?

"Nothing can be certain, but I don't believe so. If you prefer like to eyer on the safer side, you may want to have the Pack with you when she needs to feed, in case they need to intervene."

"That means you will to have to be with her constantly, David," Jasper spoke up. "It will require you to relocate once again, to the Makah Reservation. Either that or the girl will have to move to La Push. Since she's only fourteen years old that would require you to convince her family to move as well; not the easiest of undertakings."

"Quil would be happy with that," I whispered to Nessie.

"But -" she started to say something back but Alice started talking so she never finished.

"I can't see her anymore, so she'll need to be under constant supervision, by you or another Wolf, for a while at least, until you can be sure she won't attack anyone."

"Alice is right. And unfortunately we won't be able to help. We shouldn't stay here any longer," Jasper continued. "We've already been here too long. It's not… safe."

"Well, unless you want a whole new Pack of Wolves, that is," Emmett chuckled. "Could be fun, get some new blood in here, to fight with. The ones out there have been Wolves too long, they're too controlled now."

"Don't worry, David. It's not like we're going to pack up and leave tomorrow," the Doc cut in, seeing the look of concern on my son's face. "But I agree that we should not stay in the area much longer."

They were right, of course. While the Cullens had stayed almost entirely in their old house, that had had to leave on occasion to feed. I know they were trying to limit their exposure to any un-phased La Push teens, but no one was sure exactly how much was enough to set off the change. And who knows where Nahuel and Leah were having... their _activities_.

"It might be wise to give her a test run though, before we go. She how she does around a few humans," Edward offered.

"What? Are you crazy? We can't risk -"

"Charlie is going to be stopping by soon anyway," Alice announced. "We can see how she does with him."

"He's coming here? I didn't know -" Nessie looked excited to see her grandfather for a second before her face fell. "Wait. We can't risk his life like that."

"No, it's perfect. He already knows our secret and we would all be there, or near enough to run a controlled test. Even if Janet did attack we could intervene in plenty of time. We'll all be here; she won't be able to lay a finger on him."

"If all goes well we should also have her attempt to feed on David while Charlie, or possibly Sue, or some other human, is in the room. See if his fresh blood sets anything off in her," Jasper added.

"We're going to have to finish this discussion later. Charlie's about to call," Alice chirped over to Bella.

"Why is he even bothering to call first? He knows he can stop by anytime."

"It's not about that, but he will be coming tomorrow. This call is for something else." We could all see that Alice was trying to make no big deal out of whatever he was calling about, which could only mean one thing... trouble.

"Is this the about Officer Dan again," Bella questioned her.

She nodded. "But don't worry. Everything's been taking care of. Mr. Jenks is already in the process of getting him a _promotion_." Alice said while making little air quotes with her fingers. "He'll soon be transferred to Nebraska. Unfortunately, I can't see any other way of getting him out of here and off of Charlie's back, than making him the new deputy chief of police there."

"Just a deputy police chief, Alice?" Bella smirked.

"Well, I couldn't very well have it be believable, making him the actual chief of police. He's relatively new. I had to stay within reality on this. Just tell Charlie to hang in there, when he calls, and not to worry. Officer Dan will be gone in a few days. Jasper even threw Jenks a little extra money to have him arrange to get some guys to move all of Officer Dan's stuff, just to get him out of here even faster. You're welcome by the way," she playfully scowled.

"Thanks Alice. What would I ever do without you," Bella chuckled over to her, knowing that Alice wasn't really mad at her.

"You're welcome. Now answer your phone. Charlie is already stressed out enough as it is; there is no need to add to it." She smirked this time.

Half a second later Bella's phone rang.

The next day Charlie came over and Janet passed all of her tests with flying colors. He wasn't too happy to be used as a guinea pig, but agreed, after we explained exactly what was going on. It was only fare, since he was the one who would be risking his life. Okay there was really no chance of him actually dying at Janet's hands, or even getting hurt in the slightest, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. And we wanted to prepare him if Janet did move to attack. She didn't seem to gain any additional strength in her partial transformation (besides the stronger bones), so her muscles were that of an average human's.

After Carlisle finished his blood tests yesterday, he spent the remainder of the day testing to see what Vampire traits Janet did inherit. It seems she was split pretty evenly down the middle, unlike Nessie who just had a weaker version of everything her parents did. Janet's Vampire traits included the need to drink blood, her bones were hard as granite, her body temperature was colder than normal and her heart rate was slower, (though those were not exactly the same as the Cullen's it was close enough in my book, and then there was her hearing and vision. It seems that she'd gained the ability to hear and see everything near or close to nearly as well as a Vampire, or Wolf. And her speed, while not nearly as fast as the Cullen's, was far faster than a normal humans, which we pretty much had known when she managed to get the blood bag out of the Doc's hands the other day. She didn't acquire any added strength though, and was no match for a Wolf, Vampire, or Half-Vampire.

While on the other hand her human side retained the ability to eat food and age. Her skin wasn't impermeable and her brain seemed to work similarly to what it had before – as far as Carlisle could tell, that is. No multi-layers of thinking, no perfect recall, no... whatever else they could do. And she didn't seem to possess any special gifts, like Edward's mind reading or Bella's shield, none that we knew of, anyway.

Charlie was coming back on Tuesday, and bringing Sue with him. If she did fine with them in the room, while Dave attempted to feed her, with his own blood, again then she was going to be allowed to go home. She'd gawked at the idea of drinking from him at first but he didn't give her a choice, biting into his arm, her bodies instincts took over and she practically leapt on him. She quickly (oddly) grew accustomed to it once she stopped fighting her own repulsion.

"She thinks that Dave's blood is even better than a Double Fudge Chocolate Sunday," Edward explained to me. He seemed confused, having probably never had one, but it cleared up her sudden change of heart, for me.

It would be almost an entire month since her parents had seen her. I knew they must have been going through hell. Quil had done what he could. The entire Pack had. Claire was much better now that she'd seen her sister, though not since we found out about Janet's thirst for human blood. Quil had kept her up to date on her recovery, but I know it was still hard on her, not being able to see her sister, or talk to her parents about it.

They had been kept in the dark, up until yesterday.

Alice saw Officer Dan go to them and tell them that we were keeping her here. With all of the Wolves around their house, she'd found out too late for us to stop him.

The Young's believed, as everyone else did, the story Billy had come up with, that Dave was my half-brother (the result of an affair Billy had years ago, and was given up for adoption, but had found us after years of searching). Quil, and the other Wolves there, instantly tried to deny it, but the Young's were desperate. None of the other leads had panned out. They wanted their daughter back and believed him since Janet already had a connection to David, and by association me, and the Young's knew that I was with the Cullens.

We had to come up with a plan. Blatant denial clearly wouldn't work. After much discussion it was decided that we needed to come clean. The Young's had two daughters who were Imprinted on by Wolves. They probably were going to notice something was up eventually, anyways.

Tomorrow we would be going to the Makah Reservation – Carlisle, Edward, Nessie, me, David, and Janet. The rest of the Cullen's would be staying put, not wanting to frighten Janet's parents. Quil assure me he would already be there with Claire. And Charlie said he would go as well. He needed to explain his part in all of this, thanks to Officer Dan's meddling.


	34. Welcome

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Thirty-Four**

**Welcome **

* * *

Renesmee's Point of View

* * *

Felicity wasn't planning on coming with us when we brought Janet home, but as we were piling into the cars to head to the Makah Reservation, Janet refused to get in or let go of my daughter's hand. It was understandable. Those two had become almost inseparable. I think Janet was just looking for someone her own age, or as close as there was to it in the house, to connect with. I felt bad for her. Not only for being bitten by Stefan, and the agonizing pain and changes to her that resulted, but she'd finally reconnected with her sister, and then for Claire's own safety, wasn't allowed to see her.

At first I thought Janet had bonded with me, when she asked for me to stay the first time Carlisle examined her, but that request turned out to be more pseudo mother/daughter, than sisters, or girlfriends, or... whatever. I guess made sense, since I was David's mother; a fact that Janet was well aware. And my daughter, Felicity, was one of the kindest, most loving, caring, and nurturing people I knew. Of course this was due in some part to her gift. Her being able to sense the essence of a person, she immediately was drawn to loving people, and clearly Janet was one. My son had Imprinted on a wonderful young lady.

Felicity seemed to have gone out of her way this past week and a half, ever since Janet woke up, to make her feel better... safer, more calm. Anything she could think of to take away some of the emotional, if not physical pain, she was grappling with.

"Don't worry Janet, I wouldn't dream of letting you go without me," my daughter smiled to her new friend.

Janet visibly relaxed, a smidge, as she released the breath she'd been holding, and climbed into the car, after Felicity.

Just over an hour and a half later we arrived at Janet's parent's house. And while they were happy to have their daughter returned to them, they were understandably and justifiably upset about what had happened to her.

We tried and tried to explain things delicately. If that was even possible. Turns out... it really wasn't. And the fact that we explained EVERYTHING was more than a little overwhelming. It might have gone better if they had been from the La Push Res instead of the Makah one. Then they would have grown up hearing the Tribes legends at least. This was all completely new to them. And the fact that Vampires existed in the world, and that there were Werewolves in La Push, and both of their daughters were Imprinted upon by them, that was a little too much.

Sam and Emily showed up after the first hour hadn't gone so well. My father had wisely decided to call them after hearing something in Mrs. Young's mind that worried him. He hoped having Emily, Mr. Young's sister, a relative that they knew and trusted, here to explain things would help. They confirmed everything we'd said, but when Emily revealed that Sam was also a Wolf, we lost whatever advantage we'd started to get.

"I'm going to prescribe you something to help with the shock," my grandfather said, pulling out his prescription pad after the second hour. My eyebrows shot up when I saw what he had written. Tranquilizers? She must be more freaked out than I realized. "It's just to calm you down, to help you process everything," he explained, then advised Mr. Young to take her to her regular doctor in a week if her... err, _disposition_ hadn't improved.

Neither of them would take the piece of paper, so Emily did. Yikes! Hopefully she could convince her sister-in-law to fill it, or at least go see a doctor of her choosing.

And then there was Mr. Young. He'd actually threatened legal action against both of my grandfathers, and the entire Cullen clan as our third hour there was winding to a close. Luckily he was a man and it was nothing a little dazzling, on my part, couldn't handle, much to my father and Jacob's chagrin. But Jake had told me what had gone on downstairs with Officer Dan and the other cops, so what I did was nothing compared to that, and after a knowing look from me, they rightly held their tongues.

Quil tried to vouch for us; him having been at Claire's side for the past decade now, they trusted him before. But I don't think they believed him when he said that we were innocent through all of this, and we would never do anything to harm their daughter. It wasn't until Janet confirmed it as well that the Young's mood started to change.

Janet took everything, going on today, in stride. I think so that she was just so happy to be back home with her parents and sister that their current emotional state didn't bother her. She was doing tremendously, obliviously, well. She was probably going to break down soon, but she would have her parents, Claire, and David by her side when that happened.

We couldn't convince the Young's to uproot their lives and move to La Push. It was a long shot to begin with, and probably shouldn't have even been brought up this visit, but we didn't think we would be welcomed back. They didn't want to switch Reservations which meant that David was going to need to move to the Makah Reservation. That was going to be an issue, but it was something he was willing to do, of course, but it was an issue none the less.

"It'll be fine. I'll talk to Billy and Jared and work everything out," David told us as we were driving back to Forks.

He didn't want to leave Janet, but her parents needed some time with their daughter. They just got her back. And she needed time with them as well.

Quil said he'd stay, either in the house or as a Wolf outside, just in case. David only agreed to leave with the understanding that he would return tomorrow.

That night it was so nice to go to sleep and not have to worry about my son possibly killing his Imprint or himself. Peace.

For a little while anyway. The next day Jake got a call during lunch. It was Seth.

"_Hey Jake,"_ I overheard Seth say, it couldn't be helped with my enhanced hearing. If it was something private I knew Jake would excuse himself and go in another room. _"Was wondering if you and Ness could pick us up at the airport… err, tonight?"_ Why were they flying back? Did someone forget to call them to let them know everything was fine?

"You don't need to come all the way here. Janet's back home with her p…" Jake started to tell him, thinking along the same lines as me, but Seth cut him off.

"_Yeah, I heard the good news from Edward. That's not why were coming. We're actually moving back home. For good." _So soon? I thought they were planning on moving home at the end of the summer. Carol had finally earned her Ph.D. after many years, and a lot of hard work. The plan had always been for them to move home once she graduated, but we (mostly Alice) had been planning on throwing them a good by party first. _"Carol's received a job offer. It starts in a few weeks. It's so amazing, and she's so excited. She got a signing bonus and a company car, full medical and dental, end of the year bonus'… and the starting salary… I'm just… we… it's amazing. We began packing almost immediately. I probably should have mentioned it earlier, but you already had enough going on." _His voice started to fade at the end, like he was afraid of getting into trouble for what he was saying. I don't know why.

It was so great for them. Money had been so tight with her putting herself through school and all. We helped out as much as we could but I'm glad things were working out so well.

I should go find Alice so she has enough time to whip up a welcome home party. That'll make her happy.

A small part of me was concerned that this might postpone our leaving. The plan had been to head back to New Hampshire within the next day or two. We didn't really want to leave Washington, but everyone was worried about remaining longer and creating more Wolves.

* * *

"So what do you intend to do now that you're back?" Charlie asked Seth when we met him up for lunch at his place, the next day.

Charlie, Sue, Felicity, Seth (minus Carol, who was meeting with her new bosses), and Jake and me were all scrunched into their small kitchen. Leah and Nahuel were still MIA. I was beginning to wonder if they were even still in the state, but my father scrunched his eyes and nodded. They were within his range and clearly still enjoying… err, the scenery. My parents had also been invited for lunch, but politely declined, since they don't eat, but would be stopping my later. And David was asked to come too, but was hanging out with Janet, whose parents refused to let her out of their sights so soon after getting her back. He was also trying to get on their good side while he figured out a plan to move closer to her. He wasn't sure where he was going to live, but had begun packing, nonetheless.

Charlie and Sue's table was really only big enough for four people, so Jake and I hopped up and sat on the counter with some plates in our laps. Sue had cooked salmon, which everyone seemed to think was delicious. Fish had never been one of the foods that agreed with my taste buds, so I ended up pushing it around on my plate for a while, until Jake and I traded his empty plate for my full one.

"Well first thing, Carol and I'll need to find a place to live. I've managed to save a little money and am hoping to find something around here that I can fix up. Maybe find some construction jobs to do. I liked doing that in New Hampshire. And," he blushed, "we want to start trying to have kids right away. Carol is so focused on her career and plans on working full time so I'm going to get to be a stay at home Dad... you know - eventually."

"That's' so great," "How wonderful," Felicity and I exclaimed.

"I'm really excited guys," Seth continued, ignoring the shocked looks they others were giving him. Carol was so smart and Seth just absolutely adored her. I think he would have fallen in love with her, with or without the Imprint, though the age gap might have made it a bit harder for them to initially get together. Carol was finally going to put her education to some good use and help the people of La Push, just like she wanted, when she first started college over a decade ago. But there were other things she'd planned for her life as well, children clearly being one of them. "I can't wait to be a Dad to as many pups as we're able to have," Seth chuckled and a blush fell over his face. "She... err, went off the pill a month ago," he barely got the words out as he turned even redder, "so hopefully it won't be long now."

Seth was going to be such a good father. But he raised an interesting point. If they wanted a big family as Seth implied, at her age they would need to get started right away.

"Well that's great kid," Charlie huffed and we all agreed, some more genuinely than others. I don't think his mother looked too happy.

"Yes, um… great," Sue hesitantly said. It was the first time she spoke us since Seth's announcement. "Who wants dessert? I made blueberry pie," she added as she dashed out of the room, presumably to retrieve it.

Normally the thought of blueberries, something I could eat, would have made me happy, but I was too worried about Sue. She didn't seem happy.

Was it because she didn't approve of Carol? Or was it the idea of grandchildren. Did she not think she was old enough to be a grandmother, or was she going off to cry tears of Joy? Or maybe she was just overwhelmed to have her son back.

I used my gift and silently asked Jake.

Instead of answering me he took out his phone, and eyed my back pants pocket, where mine was, letting me know to take out mine. Whatever he wanted to tell me was apparently so sensitive he didn't want to risk anyone overhearing. A second later I read the text he just sent - Sue was happy for Seth, but also sad. She'd been fine with them living together, but now that they were starting a family was upset that he and Carol weren't married.

_Are you sure?_ I asked him. That seemed so silly to me. It was just a piece of paper. They would still be the same people after the ceremony as they were before.

"Pretty sure," he whispered. "It's a normal wish of parents for their kids."

I still didn't get it, but didn't have time to press him more about it. Sue was back and was dishing out the pie. We were about to start eating when Leah and Nahuel burst through the front door. This was the first time I'd seen them since they first arrived here. I was glad that they made an appearance, but it would have been nice to know that they were coming. Or that they had the decency to arrive at the beginning of the meal – almost an hour ago. But they were here now and Sue looked delighted to see her daughter. Had Leah not gone to see her mother since she'd been back?

"Congrats, little bro," Leah teased Seth, using her hand to mess up his hair. I guess they had heard his news. At least the tail end of it anyway. "Nahuel has some exciting news too." Jennifer had got in contact with him and she was looking to come back for a little while to visit her brother and was headed to New Hampshire. "Will Edward or Carlisle, or whoever arranges these things be able to get us tickets on your flight? We don't want her turning up at the house and not be there."

Jasper would be the one to talk to about that, but before I could tell her so, Sue spoke up. "You're not staying? I've barely seen you. Why don't you stay a few weeks and then you can join your boyfriend later. I'm sure he would like some alone time with his sister to catch up."

"I do not think I could bear to be away from my precious Angel for that long," Nahuel cooed in Leah's ear. _Precious Angel_? Ew! "It was torture being away from her when she came here at Jacob's orders."

"I didn't order her, it was her choice to come," Jake objected. "She's free to do what she wants."

He squinted his eyes. "So you've never ordered her to do something with those Alpha powers of yours?"

"Leah is a big girl; she can make her own decisions."

"Did, too," Leah then huffed, under her breath. Every supernatural person in the room heard her perfectly. She glared at him, taunting him to deny the truth again, which caused Jake's temper to flare, and his body began to shake as he struggled to control himself.

Oh no! Why would she goad Jake, for the one time he ordered her to do something? It was for her own good. He only made her phase, after she broke up with Nahuel, because she was so miserable without him, just so she could see that there was nothing going on between me and Nahuel, and would take him back. It was the reason they were together now.

Nahuel crossed the room in less than a heartbeat, getting within an inch of Jake. Fists clenched, veins popping. "WHAT DID YOU MAKE HER DO?" It was impressive that he able to scream as loud as he did with his jaw clenched so tightly.

Charlie tried to step between them, but he was no match for their supernatural strength. "Now boys, let's all take a step back," he tried anyways. His hand fell on their immovable masses.

I don't think they even noticed, and he eventually gave up, muttering how stubborn they were being, under his breath.

This was getting ridiculous. Before it could get any more out of hand I grabbed Nahuel's arm and used my gift to show him exactly what happened. Leah's too, so she could confirm it.

"That's all?" Nahuel growled over to her. She nodded and his anger died down, a smidge. "Err... um, okay, thanks," he then begrudgingly conceded to Jake with a huff. "My sister is one her way to New Hampshire. I'm not leaving here without Leah, so I guess I'll just have to call Jennifer and have her come here instead. It seems there will be a few new Wolves phasing after all." His smile seemed more on the mischievous, than humorous side. Was that a threat?

Jake started to growl, and looked like he was about to yell something at Nahuel when Felicity attempted to change the subject. "Seth, why don't you tell me when you and Carol are planning on getting married?"

"Oh, I um… we, well…" he started to stammer. He seemed even more embarrassed than when he mentioned the possibility of starting a family. Everyone felt it.

At least it broke some of the tension in the room. Nahuel and Jake retreated to their various corners when Sue spoke up, "So I was thinking we could rent out the function hall at -"

She hadn't exactly _eloped_ with my grandfather_, but _did have a quickie wedding at the courthouse. Now, though she saw her opportunity, with Jake and Nahuel's standoff temporarily forgotten, and was pushing for a real wedding between her son and his Imprint.

"I don't know, Mom," Seth eventually cut her off, while shoving another forkful of pie into his mouth. Sue had been going on with wedding locations, flower colors, and other suggestions for awhile now. He was starting to look a little pale. "Carol is so focused on her career right now, I think a big wedding would just take too much time. Don't get me wrong, I would love to marry her, I would do it in a heartbeat, but it's not just up to me. And I haven't even asked her, yet."

"Why not? You too have been together now for... how many years? Two, almost three. Now's the perfect time to propose. And she's your soulmate. It's not like either of you are going to find anyone else. Seth you're twenty-four now. It's time to start acting like the adult you are. Especially if you're planning on having children."

Jake was right. For whatever reason it was important to her that at least one of her children were married _properly_.

"Yeah, I know Mom, I just don't know if marriage is something that Carol is interested in."

"You'll never know unless you ask," she smirked back to her son.

"What about you two," Charlie asked turning to Jake and I.

"No thanks, Grandpa, we're good!" I definitively said, ending his ridiculous line of questioning before it even started, as I turned to clear the table. I wasn't going to be bullied or guilt tripped into marriage. I was so glad Jake and I were on the same page about this.

* * *

**A.N.** This chapter was originally the first half of the last chapter in this story, but as i edited it it kept growing and growing and i dad to split it in two. (I will be posting both halves - Welcome/UnWelcome on Sunrise next Wednesday) The second half - Chapter 24 will be posted next week. That will be the last chapter in Orbiting Satellites - Book Three. The next three books will be the Revolving Worlds Trilogy and picks up right where this leaves off.


	35. Unwelcome?

**The Flower Moon**

* * *

**Year Eight, Chapter Thirty-Five**

**Unwelcome?**

* * *

Jacob's Point of View

* * *

Before we leave tomorrow I called an all Packs meeting on First Beach. There were a lot of things we needed to figure out, so we started early in the day and then planned a bonfire with all of our Imprints for later in the night. It would be so much fun, sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallows, shoving my face full of hotdogs, telling war stories… It had been years since I was around to attend one. I missed the bonfires.

After a lot of discussion the solution to the multiple Packs problem seemed obvious. It was almost stupid in its simplicity. After a lot of back and forth the decision was made that would forever change the lives of everyone on the Makah Reservation. If they agreed that is.

David, Quil, and Embry had all Imprinted on those from the Makah Reservation. So they would move there to live with them. Well Embry was there already, anyway.

David (who was already in the process) and Quil would move to the Makah Reservation to be closer to their Imprints, while simultaneously forming their own Pack of three. Up until the current generation, was a normal Pack size. Without a constant Vampire presence in the area, this seemed more normal than anything else.

Jared agreed to stay on as Alpha in La Push, while training Collin to take over some day, but after what happened with Stephan and Vladimir, Jared no longer planned on retiring anytime soon. The job was too important. It seemed like they had all grown a little too comfortable, too complacent, over the years and needed to step back up to protect the Tribe.

The two Alphas, David and Jared, would be able to communicate with each other between the La Push and Makah Reservations, ensuring that the entire area would be safe from Vampires in the future.

Embry had been married to Colleen for a little while now so the elder council there knew him and were able to get us in for a meeting. They previously hadn't known anything about Wolves, but now that they were going to have three living on their Reservation, they needed to be brought into the loop. It was going to be a touchy topic to bring up. I had a feeling they weren't going to believe us at first and that we would have to give them a demonstration, i.e. - one of us was going to have to phase.

Sam, Billy, Sue, and Old Quil (whom they knew, and was still somehow hanging on by a thread) accompanied us to explain things and bring some level of authority and authenticity to our group when we went there a few days later. Sue thought ahead enough to grab the written history of the Tribe to show them, as well.

All of the Cullens, including Nessie and Felicity, along with Leah and Nahuel, had returned home, to New Hampshire a couple of days ago, as planned. I hated being away from my family but I felt I needed to see this through, and would fly back to them as soon as I was able. Hopefully this wouldn't take long.

The Makah Elders ended up taking the news better than I thought, even if we did end up having to phase to prove we weren't crazy. No one had a heart attack like Sue had been worried about, but there were a couple of fainters. All in all, it went pretty well.

"Argh! This council crap is gonna take me away from Janet," Dave moaned as we were leaving.

He'd been appointed an acting member of the tribal council since he was going to be the Makah Pack Alpha. At the time he seemed thrilled, but I guess he hadn't thought it all the way through.

"No worries," my dad whispered back to Dave as he pushed his grandfather's wheelchair for him. "It's a couple hours once a month, maybe a few more here and there, if someone calls a special meeting like we did. You'll have plenty of time with your Imprint. There mostly during the day, she'll be at school."

No one was sure what exactly to do or say to explain to the rest of the Makah Reservations inhabitants why none of them would be aging any time soon. Their Res was smaller than the one in La Push and three new men, who towered over everyone, would definitely be noticed, but that was a matter for another day, I guess.

The only urgent question I needed to deal with right now was what was going to happen with my Dad. I thought maybe the nurse that Edward had arranged, could change her schedule around and make it her full time job. But even if took care of Billy forty hours a week, that would still leave a lot of hours he would be home alone. The Pack and Imprints already stopped in as much as they could, whenever the Nurse or David wasn't there, but it wasn't enough, and now that David would be leaving, Billy needed more help.

I know he didn't like being dependent on others and thought he could still take care of himself, but the reality was that he couldn't, and his situation would only get worse as time went on. It was either getting him some sort of full time around the clock care, or put him into a nursing home, and he would never agree to that. I think I needed to call Edward.

As I dialed his number I contemplated hanging up and calling Nessie instead, just to give myself an excuse to hear her voice on the phone before she handed it to her father. But that was silly. I'd already called her this morning, like I promised and would call her again tonight before she went to sleep. And I would be home with her, her cuddled in my arms, in our bed together, in a few days.

_"Hello Jacob." _Edward said, answering the phone. _"Is everything going alright? Do the Makah Elders have a problem with the Wolves moving to their Reservation?"_

"Hey. No, that's not why I'm calling. That went smoothly. Well as smooth as could be expected. I'm calling 'cause I'm worried about Billy," I replied before relaying to him all of my concerns. He'd probably picked them out of my brain before he and the rest of the Cullens left, but he'd never said anything. So maybe he didn't.

"_I assume this means that you have not spoken with your father; or your son, for that matter." _I could hear the smirk in his voice. I didn't think this was very funny. What was I missing?

"No, you know Billy. He's stubborn and prideful. He would object to anymore help. And I'm not laying this on my son. Billy is my father; it's my responsibility to take care of him." Or pay someone else to do it.

_"Jacob, answer me this... have you spent any time around your father and his new nurse? Is he really so _annoyed_ about her presence there? Has he complained... at all? From what I've seen and heard I believe that he would welcome the opportunity of having Miss Tanner at the house more_. And so would she," he chuckled.

What? "Are you sure Eddie? Billy has always hated-"

_"Jacob, relax. I didn't just pick his nurse at random. I guess it's time to let you in on a little secret Alice and I've been keeping. We didn't want to tell you, or Billy, in order as to not unduly influence matters, but Alice had a vision last year. Before I go on, let me ask you one more thing... do you like Miss Tanner? In general?"_

"I guess. She seems very... professional. She knows what she's doing and seems to be taking good care of Billy. I mean, she's much more competent than the Health Care worker I hired."

_"No, I meant as a person in general. What do you think of her?" _What was he getting at?

"Um, sure. She seems nice enough, friendly -"

_ "Loving?"_

"Huh? Eddie what are you getting at?"

_ "Alice saw Billy and Miss Tanner getting married," _he laughed through the phone again. Married? _"Early next autumn, if I were to guess by the falling leaves in Alice's vision. They are practically living together already. I'm sure that if we just arrange for one other nurse to stop by intermittently, while she goes to work, Billy will be sufficiently looked after. Actually... I can guarantee it."_

Hmmm. Alice's vision must have been very clear and unchanging for him to say that with such certainty.

_ "Jacob, are you still there?"_

"Huh? Sure, sure. Sorry. I just wasn't expecting that. Wait how did Alice see this? She can't see Wolves and La Push is always crawling with them."

_"True, but she can see around your kind. I picked up on a stray thought I caught in his mind, when we were all together a few years ago, and asked Alice to try and start looking." _Then his voice got real quiet and I had to strain to hear him thought the phone. _She feels horrible that she missed seeing his health decline last year. If she had we might have been able to put a stop to it before it ever got as bad as it did. But Billy wasn't as clear to her then as he is now. It took some time for her to develop her gift enough were she could see him surrounded by so many Wolves. Please don't mention any of that to her though. She feels bad enough as it is." _

"Yeah, sure. I guess it all worked out for the best anyway." If his diabetes had never got so bad, Edward never would have hired her and they wouldn't have met and fallen in love. Huh. My Dad was in love with someone other than my Mom. Weird! But good. It's been almost twenty years she's been gone. He deserved to be happy. "Alice didn't happen to see who we hire to-"

_"Of course I did,"_ I heard Alice chirp in the background. While Edward chuckled some more. _"I'll email you all of their info."_

_ "Alice has already hired the extra nursing help. She starts tomorrow," _Edward informed me.

"Oh well... thanks."

_"You're welcome,"_ Alice sang again in the background. Crazy little pixie!

"Well I guess that takes care of everything then. David found a place to live, on the Makah Reservation," I told Edward. "He'll be sharing it with Quil, and we can start moving them in on Sunday. I'll talk to Billy tonight and see about him and Miss Tanner-"

_ "Her first name is Jill, by the way."_

"Jill? So they'll be Billy and Jilly?" I sneered to myself, yet loud enough the Edward picked up on it and started chuckling too. "Right so I guess as soon as she and David and Quil are moved in to their new places I'll fly back home. You're sure Alice saw this happening so soon?"

_ "Are you betting against Alice?"_

"Right, what was I thinking?" I pretended to wonder out loud. If Alice had seen it I was going to go with it. "I'll call you when it's all done and I know when my flight leaves. And tell Nessie I miss her and will Skype with her tonight at the usual time."

_"Of course, I'll let her know as soon as she returns from hunting." _That explained why she hadn't ripped the phone out of Edward's hands by now.

After hanging up with Edward I prepared myself for a very awkward conversation with my father.

"Hey, Dad," I called as I headed into the house.

Thankfully the actual talk went better than I thought. I had to stay a few extra days than I planned, helping David move out of Billy's, Quil out of his place, and then both of them into their new apartment, then helping Miss Jill Tanner move into my old house, and finally I had to attend one last bonfire. I could have done without that, I wanted to get back to Nessie, and Felicity, but the bonfire was a going away party for Dave, Quil, and me. As one of the guests of honor I couldn't say no. But I did book my plane ticket for a 1am departure. That meant that I was able to duck out early to make it to the airport on time, bringing me back to my Soulmate that much quicker. A little after 9:30, when the party just seemed to be getting going, I said my goodbyes to my family and friends, my old home and life in Washington, and left to rejoin my Cullen family on the other side of the country.

Nessie met me at Logan Airport, in Boston, to pick me up. I missed her so much. This past week without her was horrible. Not as bad as last time, but still pretty bad. The Skype and phone calls helped. But I still missed her. It was like my heart was missing without her by my side.

She didn't look any better. Actually she looked worse… no, more like she was worried. That was strange. I mean I know I felt bad without her too, but now that she was right next to me and I could see her with my own eyes, and not through a computer screen, I felt much better. Her facial expression only got worse as we walked to baggage claim.

We waited in silence while we waited for my bags to appear.

"What's wrong?" I finally asked as we began to head for the exit. Her muteness was starting to make be panic.

"Something... happened while you were gone, and I'm not sure how you're going to take it."

"Is someone hurt?" Who? Why didn't anybody mention anything over the phone? Maybe it was something recent.

"No, no one is hurt." She took a deep breath. It made her slightly more relaxed but did the opposite for me. "It's actually a good thing... if you think about it," she replied before taking another deep breath, and sorta tried and failed to smile. "But I can't tell you here," she said looking around. "Not in front of all these humans."

That wasn't making me feel better. Whatever it was she was worried I would overreact and phase. Great! This was going to be worse than I thought.

We quickly walked to the parking lot and jumped into her car that we'd built together. She avoided the issue on the drive home, instead asking me about Dave's new apartment, Jill Tanner, and the Makah Council.

I wasn't sure if she was stalling or what, but didn't push her to tell me, even though not knowing was killing me. When we were about a mile away from home she pulled over. She obviously wanted to tell me away from her family but be close enough that Edward would be able to read my mind if something went wrong. Crap! How bad was this going to be?

"Come on, let's go for a walk," she said getting out of the car. I had a feeling that whatever she was going to say might make me so upset that I was probably going to phase. If I was still in the car I would destroy the thing, and that would stink. We both put hundreds of hours into this car. It was a thing of beauty, a work of art. But now I didn't care about the stupid thing, now I was more anxious than ever.

After we walked about a mile in the opposite direction of the house, I'd just about had it. I was shaking, trying to not phase just from the sheer suspense of it all. "Alright, Nessie. Just spit it out. Please. I can't take it anymore. What happened?"

"Our daughter Imprinted," she mouthed, barely above a whisper, but I caught it anyway.

I couldn't have heard her right. Could I? "What do you mean, Felicity Imprinted?"

How was it even possible? While she wasn't able to phase into a Wolf she'd inherited some Wolf characteristics. True, it was impossible to tell which ones exactly, since they were the same ones that she could have gotten from Nessie's Vampire side – her strength, speed, accelerated heeling, and heightened senses, among other things.

And who could she have Imprinted on? All of the Wolves, every single one of them Imprinted on someone from the La Push or Makah Tribe. Well, except for me. But no one from the Tribe lived in New Hampshire. Did this happen back in Forks? And she left, never saying anything?

"Well…" Nessie hesitantly started to tell me, "she Imprinted on Nahu-"

"NO," I screamed, partially in disbelief, partially due to my anger. Not him. Anyone but him. How could this even happen? She's met him before, was this some kind of delayed Imprinting? And what was going to happen to Leah. This couldn't happen to her again. Her broken heart barely survived last time, when Sam Imprinted on Emily.

"Jake, relax. You didn't let me finish. Felicity didn't Imprint on Nahuel." she screamed. Oh, thank goodness, I sighed in relief. "Felicity Imprinted on Nahuel's sister, Jennifer."

"Jennifer?" I thought for a moment. A smile came over my face and Nessie relaxed. "Nice. I like her. Why were you so worried about my reaction?" It couldn't be because Jennifer was a girl. Nessie knew I didn't care about something like that. In most Native American cultures _Two-Spirit_ individuals are revered. The news about my daughter being a lesbian wasn't exactly a shock to me. It was about Jennifer though.

"Well... it's Nahuel's sister. I know the two of you don't get along. Now it looks like you two are going to be stuck with each other, in each other's lives, at least a little, for... well, forever."

"I think I already realized that nightmare as soon as Leah and Nahuel decided to become a couple," I chuckled. "Can we go home now?" I'd tried to sleep on the plane but didn't have much luck and now that I had calmed down, was barely able to keep my eyes open

We pulled into the garage just as the sun was coming up.

"So are you feeling better after getting some sleep?" Nessie asked me after we woke up the next morning… err, late afternoon.

While I didn't mind that Felicity had Imprinted on Jennifer, I wasn't too happy to return home and find them already way further along in their _relationship_ than I deemed appropriate for my fifteen month old. So what if she looked like she was twenty-three years old? She was my baby and she would be treated accordingly. At least that was my thought. Apparently I was alone in my thinking.

Everyone else saw how much Felicity and Jennifer loved each other already, and couldn't stand to be apart. Of course they had also had over a week to get use to it, before letting me in on the news. And it wasn't like the two of them had just jumped into bed together. But they _were_ making out on the couch when I'd gotten home from the airport and I kinda flipped out. I was her father. Wasn't it was my job to overreact? At least now I had a better understanding of Edward's point of view regarding my relationship with Nessie.

"Daddy," Felicity screeched, jumping nearly a foot in the air, as I started growling at Jennifer. "Um, your home." She looked like she had been caught stealing candy, and Jennifer seemed worried for her life. Good, she should be.

_Calm down._ Nessie said to me with her gift. _They're not doing anything wrong, they're both adults, and it's not like Jennifer's going to hurt her, or take advantage of her._

I knew that. I just didn't like where their hands were.

Nessie ended up apologizing to them, and dragging me upstairs to bed.

It took me almost an entire month for me to relax. But I eventually calmed down and realized that Nessie was right. My baby was an adult. And, as hard as it was for me to admit, was in an adult relationship.

When Ness was younger I lived in fear that Edward would hear the wrong thing in my head about his daughter and rip my throat out, he almost did a couple of times. I didn't want Felicity and Jennifer to go through that.

For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, David was finally not giving me any issues. I didn't have anything to worry about, as far as he was concerned, apart from the normal everyday worries a father has for their children. He was settled in nicely on the Makah Res, taking his rightful place as Alpha, with Quil as his second, and Embry his third. I thought Embry should have been second, but he didn't mind since he had a new baby and that obviously took up a lot of his time. Dave was happy to be living closer to Janet, who was readjusting slowly but nicely to life at home, even with all of her... changes.

Billy said he and Jill were doing well and had picked a wedding date, for two months from now. Alice had taken over the planning as usual. Neither the distance, nor the fact that she couldn't see over have of the wedding party or guests seemed to stop her, or even slow her down. I even received an official invitation in the mail, which seemed a little strange, since she lived right next door. She could have just walked over and handed it to me, but apparently that wasn't the proper way to do these sorts of things.

"You did at least confirm everything with Billy and Jill?" I asked her when I opened the envelope and saw the date printed. "This says the weddings on Sunday, August 3rd, 2014. Is that what they wanted? I thought I'd heard Jill say something about late fall."

"That's only because she didn't know I could work miracles. And I don't need to sleep," she giggled.

I hoped she was telling me the truth and this was actually what my father and his fiancée wanted. And not Alice being Alice, pushing everyone into what she thinks is best for them.

Even though I'd left La Push, it wasn't for good. I would always have a reason to return - weddings, funerals, births… who knows what else. Since I still had family there I would always be connected to that place, even if it wasn't my home anymore.

My home was wherever Nessie was. Even if I'd never Imprinted on her, if I'd chosen to remain a Wolf, I wouldn't be able to stay there. Just like the Cullens, I would need to move eventually. People would notice how I never aged.

"So what should we do now? We missed our graduation ceremony but we still earned our degrees," Ness asked me the next day as we ran home.

The whole family had planned a big trip up, into Canada this weekend to hunt, but Nessie didn't think she could make it until then, so the two of us decided to go into the forest behind the house, just to find something to tie her over. She really wanted to go with everyone later so today she was fine only draining a few rabbits.

She always seemed so happy after hunting. When she was younger I'd always thought it had something to do with the burn in her throat being quenched, but now I think it's something else. At least partially. I mean I'm sure part of it is due to the fact that she's full, satisfied, satiated. That it's less likely her control is going to slip. But I think it's more than that. More like now her brain has more room to think of other things. Other happier things take priority.

"We could stay at Dartmouth and get our Masters Degrees." I replied. "And then our PhD's. And then start all over again. And Again. And again. We do have forever," I smirked. "I mean, it probably wouldn't be as bad as endlessly repeating High School, like your parents do, but staying in college forever might get a little boring, after awhile. It could end up almost as bad."

"I know." Nessie's formerly happy demeanor suddenly got serious. "And I've been thinking about what David said the night of his birthday party, that we should do something to help people."

I'd been thinking the same thing myself, off and on, the past few months. "I'm not going to need to start wearing spandex. Am I?" I probably looked like I was going to be sick, but was just goofing around. Trying to lighten the mood. It was a little funny to think about dressing up as Wolverine or something. Though the yellow Lycra would show off my abs nicely. That thought made it hard not to start laughing, and a second later I snorted, looked over at Nessie and we both burst out laughing.

"No, no. Nothing like that," Nessie replied after we'd regaining our composure. "But maybe we could get jobs, or volunteer, or... do _something_ that will actually make a difference in people's lives."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I don't think our engineering degrees are going to help us much though."

"Don't be silly Nessie," Alice chirped, coming to join us now that we'd made our way back into the house. I headed straight for the kitchen. Ness wasn't hungry anymore but I still needed to eat breakfast. "Have you ever heard of Habitats for Humanity? You could build houses for those in need. If you don't want to do that you could work in a soup kitchen, or become a cop, or volunteer with Doctors without Borders, or -"

"Alice what are you talking about? We couldn't do that. Jake and I aren't doctors."

"Not yet," she smirked.

What was that suppose to mean? I mean she couldn't see our futures but she was acting like she did. And a doctor? Could Nessie do that. I mean she was smart enough. But what about the blood? What if she lost control and drank a patient?

"Nessie, just because I can't see you doesn't mean I can't see at all. Are you forgetting that I can see around you, so I see the impact you have on others. And not just you. I think your son has inspired all of us. At least in that no one is planning on returning to High School for quite some time. We'll be more limited in what we can do than the two of you because of the whole sunlight issue, but if Carlisle can do it so can the rest of us."

"You're all going to be doctors?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Don't be ridiculous," she practically snorted. "Although Bella is toying with the idea. She does have the best control, but she's leaning more to becoming a lab technician, for this move anyway."

I didn't want to lose my family again. "You're moving again? I thought now that David was settled in La Push-"

"We all are, you and Nessie are coming too, silly. You finished school, it's time to go. You didn't really think you could stay here forever did you?"

"No, I guess not. But what about grad school?"

"You can still do that, just not here. It would look too weird to the humans. Most of us left, if we all suddenly came back people would start asking questions, and that's never good when humans are concerned. It's just safer this way. I mean you two could stay, if you really wanted to, but we miss you and -"

"We want our family back together," Edward finished for her. He and Bella had just come in a minute ago. I was so glad we weren't splitting up again. I loved Nessie, but I knew she wanted and needed to be with the rest of her family too. So did I.

"We didn't mean to interrupt but we wanted to let you know that we're having a family meeting at Carlisle and Esme's to decide where we're going to live next, if you want to join us," Bella told us.

I looked at Nessie; she looked at me. No discussion was needed. We smiled, nodded, and walked hand in hand, behind Bella, Edward, and Alice to join the rest of the Cullens, our family, around the Doc and Esme's dining room table to determine where we would spend the next part of our forever, together.

* * *

The End

* * *

**A.N.** \- Okay... so obviously this is the end of the Orbiting Satellites trilogy. What did you think?

Follow Jacob and Renesmee over the next Fifty Years of their lives in the continuation series, picking up soon after we left off – _**Revolving Worlds - Book One **_

s/13644235/1/Revolving-Worlds-Book-One


	36. Authors Note - Revolving Worlds

Authors Note:

Chapter One of _**Revolving Worlds - Book One** _has just been posted. This is the edited and expanded version of **The Next Fifty Years** part of my original _**Sunrise** _story.

You can find it here –

** s/13644235/1/Revolving-Worlds-Book-One**


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